Sonic Underground Finale
by 89animegirl
Summary: "Game over Buttnik." Or was it? After the virtual world, the hedgehogs never expected that in the days that follow, the Promised day would come upon them. Will Sonic, Sonia, & Manic be able to stop Robotnik and save their kingdom? Or will the power of Evil be too strong to overcome with the bonds of Family? How will it all end? (No OC's. And the story is pretty freaking awesome.)
1. Chapter 1: Aftermath

**Cover Art done by me, but the credit for the logo in the middle goes to mellowhen at devianart. And of course, all characters, places, and possible references are property of Sega of America and it's associates.**

**Good Day everyone! OK, so the other day, I got to a point where I just wanted to be a little kid again, so I do what anyone would do really, I take a trip down memory lane. I remember watching Sonic Underground and immediately loving it. The darkness of the series didn't turn me away like it might have turned others, it made it cool. And the music (kiddish now when I look back to it) was really catchy and sent good messages. But disappointingly, it ended at episode 40 due to low ratings. Sonic, Sonia, and Manic never reunited with their mother, Queen Aleena. I was so distraught. At the time, I thought that I couldn't do something to bring it back, it was a project that T.V scrapped, and was probably never going to return to. But years later, I've decided to give the Sonic Underground fans something they've all been waiting for. A grand Finale. I'm going all out for this one, so there might be some characters you need to refresh upon.**

**No robots are harmed in the making of this story. Nah, just kidding.**

**Now, without further ado, I give you chapter one of: The Sonic Underground Finale!**

_The Land of Robotropolis, once a thriving city of beauty and plentiful wonders is now a desolate wasteland, less than a shadow of its former self. _

_The former ruler, Queen Aleena the Hedgehog, was forced into exile by the malevolent Dr. Robotnik, destiny ordering her and her three beautiful children, Sonic, Sonia, and Manic, to be separated until the time of destiny finally came. Over the years, the children grew under the watchful eyes of other guardians, as diverse as they may be. _

_Sonia, Aleena's daughter, was raised by a wealthy aristocratic family. Her adoptive family loved her very much, she loved them too. And she enjoys clothes, fancy dances, being beautiful, and indeed she was, and was inexplicably interested in learning to play the piano. But her heart yearned for adventure, something was missing._

_Manic is Aleena's son; he was originally intended to be left with a well-to-do family, but destiny had decided differently. A street-wise thief had taken the child from his intended home, and brought him to Ferrell, a fellow thief who raised him as his own son. He stole only what he needed, greedless and joyful with what little he had, which were only the clothes on his back, his two drumsticks, and the limitless potential he has wielding them. Though he was taught warped morals, his heart remained pure; and like his unknown sister, he knew that something was missing._

_Last is Sonic, Aleena's other son, who was raised by a loving couple when Sonic happened to run into their lives, both literally and metaphorically. Sonic loved his family, and he had a fun time living with them, being raised as a cool, carefree, and curious kid; with a mysteriously powerful urge to play an equally great instrument, the guitar. But again, like his long-lost siblings, something was missing._

_You see, unlike his siblings, Sonic was born with the miraculous yet unexplainable power of supersonic speed. With this power came the urge to explore the world and live life free, but unbeknownst to a toddler such as him, this was hindered due to Robotnik's totalitarian rule._

_A lesson he learned far too soon._

_Sonic was separated from his adoptive family and was living with Aleena's brother, or Sonic's uncle, a kind-hearted mustachioed hedgehog that Sonic preferred to call Uncle Chuck. With Uncle Chuck, he worked for the resistance against Robotnik, and one day, after a bout with an energy shield, the Oracle of Delphius delivered a message to him, he is the son of Queen Aleena, and that he has a twin brother and a twin sister._

_After they all united, Robotnik came and took adoptive their families, and turned them into his robotic slaves._

_What happened next was history. Now, after the most recent attack from Robotnik involving a virtual world, the hedgehogs return to a safe house hidden in the city, their efforts exhausted enough for one day. But to Sonic's surprise, Sonia has other plans…_

"What? I hope you mean another dude, not the Knuckles we know, not the hot-head mutated hands, guy, right?" Sonic says. Sonia brushes the hair from her face and crosses her arms, smiling smugly.

"And so what if it is? He's nice, and strong, and cute…" Sonia says while interlocking her hands and holding them against her cheek, smiling goofily. Sonic pouts and snaps his finger in front of her face, breaking her out of her little fantasy; he does not like the possibility of his sister *gulp***_ dating_** his friend, it is really weird. Sonic lies down on his cot and crosses his legs, he stares up at the grimy ceiling.

"I don't like this Sonia, I mean, he's our friend, I don't want anything awkward between you guys to stop us from fighting Robuttnik." Sonic says this with only a hint of truth; sure, he cares about stopping Robotnik, but it is his protective brother in him that is reluctant to see Sonia go on a date with Knuckles. But despite Sonic's protests, Sonia is steadfast in her decision.

"Sorry Sonic, I'm going, he's already waiting for me around the corner, and we are going to have a romantic evening out, we're probably even going to kiss!"

"What? Right in the street where Buttnick can see him?" Sonic says, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Oh relax, he's in a cloak and I'm going to wear one too, and we'll be careful, trust us." Sonia sits down at a mirror stand and starts to brush her hair, daydreaming about her so-called "Knight in red fur"; Ugh. Sonic does not like it; he turns to his brother for a little support, but is bitterly disappointed.

"Come on bro, help me out here!" Sonic motions to Manic, who is on a homemade hammock, using his belly as a poor-boy's Congo drum. He nonchalantly turns his head and chuckles at Sonic's edgy behavior; it completely contrasts with how he normally is. "Chill out Sonic, Sonia's already dated, got married, and broken up before; she knows what she's doing, give her a chance." Sonia smirks at Sonic, but he just sticks out his tongue. After she's finished doing her hair, she goes to change her outfit; the hair on the top of her head is slicked back and her spines are in a bunchy ponytail tied together with a light blue ribbon. Sonia goes behind a hanging curtain and comes out in a very pretty white sundress tied in the middle with a blue band and with matching white sunflower sandals. She whirls around and poses, holding the sides of her skirt in a curtsey.

"So guys, how do I look?" Sonia says with her eyebrow raised.

"Like a daisy." Sonic says, laughing. "You rob a flower shop?" Manic throws him a critical glance and turns to Sonia, giving her a sincere compliment.

"Don't mind Sonic; you look great Sonia, Knuckles is a lucky guy." Manic gives her thumbs up and she smiles in response; she walks out the door and waves to her brothers as she grabs her cloak and heads for the door.

"Bye guys! Wish me luck!" Despite his previous arguments, Sonic wishes her luck and Manic does so as well. Sonia walks out the front door with a big love-struck grin on her face. Sonic goes over to Manic's hammock and comically flips him over, Manic spins over and over until he comes to a stop and he sees birds flying around his head. He grabs his head, and with his pupils still adjusting themselves, he turns over to his brother.

"What's the big idea Sonic?" Manic says both dizzily and angrily.

Sonic chuckles a little and points his finger toward Manic while he lies back down on his bed; "Heh, next time, back me up." Sonic says, he closes his eyes and eventually drifts to sleep.

…

Knuckles leans on a traffic sign at the corner in a long brown cloak that touches all the way to the floor; upon seeing Sonia, he waves at her and she runs to him, her long dark-purple cloak trailing behind her.

Knuckles smiles at her shyly; and with a shaking hand he brings out a flower from under his cloak and gives it to her. She takes it gratefully and he smiles clumsily when she compliments it.

"Oh, knuckles, it's beautiful!" Sonia says while gently stroking the pedals on the shiny red rose. She looks into his eyes and it immediately sends the blood rushing to Knuckles's cheeks. She takes his hand and they both run off, him running clumsily behind as he is not very fast nor confident around girls.

"Where're we going?" Knuckles asks while trying to keep his cloak from flying off.

"You'll see!" Sonia responds as they head into a dilapidated building. Once inside the building, Knuckles has trouble seeing through the dark, but when Sonia flicks a switch from her pocket, a faint beeping sound is heard from twenty feet away. The lights on Sonia's motorcycle flip on, and she runs over to its location, revving the engine. She waves for Knuckles to follow, and then she hands him a blue helmet, gesturing for him to put it on. She plants on her own helmet and mounts the bike.

"Wait, you're driving?" Knuckles asks, pointing at the bike skeptically.

"Of course, it's my bike, and I never really liked riding backseat." Sonia slips some goggles on. Knuckles catches her drift and settles onto the bike, then he grabs onto her hips and they brace for the ride.

"Ready?" Sonia says.

Knuckles gives a thumbs up to Sonia and says "Ready!" Then in the blink of an eye, the bike bursts out of the wall of the abandoned warehouse. Sonia uses this time to finally tell Knuckles what they are going to do for the night.

"Well, I think having a boring night in Robotropolis is no way to spend our date; we should go to your island, which sounds a _lot_ better than here!" Knuckles likes the idea of going to the Floating Island for their night, but he does not like the fact that they're drawing so much attention toward themselves, he wants to keep Sonia safe too, but how can he do that when she likes to be in danger? The next words she says come as a bit of a surprise.

"But first, I need to make a quick drop." Sonia steers the motorcycle into a working factory and the doors bust down with a loud KA-TANG! The robots working in the energy core manufacturing plant all deadpan the spontaneous visitors. Knuckles, taken by surprise at the sudden left turn, clasps the helmet to his head, clenches his teeth, and grabs the motorcycle tightly, nearly denting the metal shell of the bike. Sonia moves her motorbike in a serpentine motion, dodging the bullets from the mindless turrets. However, a bullet strikes the side of the bike on one of the turns, and Sonia decides that she needs to go faster. The factory is put on high alert, and before they know it, they are surrounded by the shots of gunfire and missiles heading toward them.

Upon seeing the missiles, Knuckles springs into action. He stands up on the bike and when one of the missiles closes in, he grapples with it for a second before redirecting it with a quick flick of his wrist. The redirected missile collides with a machine, blasting it to bits. When another missile heads for them, Knuckles does a similar technique as last time, but this time, he jumps on top of the missile, riding it like some sort of explosive air dolphin. By shifting his body weight, he steers the missile toward the direction of the back wall, and once the course is set, he leaps back onto Sonia's motorcycle. "BOOM!" The back wall disintegrates with a mighty crumbling sound in its wake, and Knuckles once again steadies himself on the bike by holding onto Sonia's hips.

"Hold on!" Sonia pulls out a small device from her cloak and yanks out a pin from it with her teeth, then she throws it onto the conveyor belt and it heads into one of the big machines. Sonia zooms with her motorcycle out of the building and sharply turns right, leaving the factory behind in their dust. Seconds later, the grenade explodes, sending sharp fragments of superheated shrapnel and flames rocketing through the air at metal-piercing speeds. Sonia and Knuckles laugh briefly, and Sonia swiftly wipes a bead of sweat from her forehead before heading for the outskirts of the city.

"You're crazy Sonia! Ha! That was amazing!" Knuckles says, laughing loudly. Sonia looks back at him and giggles softly; he suddenly feels very timid when she does so, so he releases his hold on her hips and grabs the side of the bike, laughing awkwardly. Their moment lasts only for a short time though, because before they know it, police drones are on their tail, and they are not pleased about their factory being "exploded".

"Whoa, watch it Sonia, these Swatbots are on our tails!" Only about two miles from the edge of the city, Sonia speeds up her motorcycle and decides to have a high-speed driving shootout with the Swatbots. She activates her medallion and hands it to Knuckles, instructing him to shoot the robots as they chase them, but Knuckles is a tad bit uncomfortable.

"Are you kidding?!" Knuckles yells over the laser blasts of the robots. He stands up on the bike and shoots at the flying droids, knocking them down one by one.

"Oh, you're right!" Sonia flips on her motorcycle's built in radio and starts blasting the song "Escape from the City" by Crush 40, her second favorite band (first being her own). Then revving her bike to a pulse-pounding 80 miles an hour, she sarcastically comments to Knuckles.

"Better?" She says with a tangy flair.

"This is not what I meant!" Knuckles yells out, and Sonia sings along to the song as she turns in and around the street corners. Pedestrians duck into their houses and alleyways as the clamorous duo race against the Swatbots to reach the outskirts of the city.

"Must keep on Moving Ahead, no time for guessing follow my plan inste-ad!" Sonia turns swerves around a corner and revs the bike into a long stretch of road.

"Trusting in what you can't see, take my lead, I'll set you free! Follow me, set me free…" Some of the last robots are being taken down by Knuckles, and the final street they need to drive through is arriving quickly.

"Trust me and we will Esc-ape from the Ci-ty! I'll make it through, Follow me!" Sonia continues singing as Knuckles shoots down the last robot and settles down on the bike, a little angry at Sonia for pulling the stunt. He wants to give her a stern warning, but when she turns around and her eyes are so alive with adventure, Knuckles can't bring himself to be mad at her. Her happiness is more important to him than her safety. She's having a fun time, and when Knuckles looks back and sees that he demolished Robotnik's toys, he can't help but feel a little gleeful himself.

So gleeful in fact, he joins Sonia in singing along to the rest of the song.

"I'll make it through… Oh Yeah!" Knuckles sings loudly with Sonia's well-practiced voice complimenting him as they ride out of the city and into the night.

Meanwhile, from the safe house where Sonic and Manic are taking refuge, Sonic blinks himself awake and stretches out on his cot, yawning. He turns to a quiescent Manic and asks him something.

"Did you hear something?" Manic turns around sleepily and shakes his head.

"Nope." Manic says quietly.

Sonic convinces himself that the sound was in his imagination and he turns over in his mattress, falling back asleep in mere seconds.

…

On Angel Island, the scenery is breathtaking. The trees all glow a gentle blue, the stars and moon shimmering a soft light overhead. Serene Noises of crickets and snuffling birds echo through the forest. The nearby waterfall circulates the fresh island air, creating a smooth breeze that ruffles through the trees, sending out a faint aroma of fresh leaves. Knuckles and Sonia are lying down on a soft orange blanket as they look sleepily into the constellations. Being dozy, when she snuggles up close to him for warmth, he does not have the energy nor the desire to deter her.

"Knuckles?" Sonia whispers sweetly.

"Mm-hm?" Knuckles responds. Sonia looks at his eyes and returns her glance, and before his cheeks can flush, she returns her gaze to the sky and sighs.

"The oracle told us that my brothers and I would be reunited with our mother when the day comes…but…" Sonia sighs again and covers her eyes with her hand. "But we really don't care about destiny… we just want our mom back…" As Sonia begins to cry, Knuckles wraps both of his arms around her and tries to comfort her by patting her back softly.

"Hey…don't cry Sonia, what you're feeling is perfectly fine." She wipes the tears from her eyes and hugs Knuckles back. And to show her that he understands, he talks of his past.

"My parents were gone ever since I was four, I had only Chomps to keep me company, and he wasn't exactly the greatest conversationalist…" Sonia snickers a little bit and Knuckles smiles uncomfortably, remembering how shy he is of girls. He releases her and stares at the ground between them, rubbing his glove against the soft blanket.

"My mom died shortly after I was born, and my dad taught me the importance of guarding the island's Chaos Emerald from harm. When Robotnik took over…h-he was killed." Sonia looks at him with a deep and respectful sympathy; then she turns to him and lays her hand on his, and he makes no attempt to pull away.

"I'm sorry Sonia, I think I'm, *heh*, ruining our date a little bit." Knuckles says, not lifting his gaze from its fixed position.

"No Knuckles, don't say that…"She leans on him and puts her hand under his chin, and lifts his head up into the beautiful night sky. "What's happened so far is in the past, and just because the past affects the future, we shouldn't let it dictate our lives. We are the only ones who can do that." A shooting star twinkles past the sky, inciting some excitement in Knuckles, as he remembers the never-ending beauty of the world, and it cheers him up.

"Ha, a shooting star! Make a wish." Knuckles closes his eyes, and Sonia follows shortly after. After a couple seconds, Knuckles asks Sonia what she wished for, but Sonia answers with a spicy riposte.

"Nuh-uh! If I tell you, it won't come true!" Knuckles laughs a little and Sonia asks him a rather… scandalous question.

"Knuckles, why are you so shy of girls?" Knuckles cannot stop the blood from rushing to his cheeks in time; he sits up straight and slams both his hands on the floor in embarrassment, clenching his teeth a little. His pupils dilate inevitably, and when they do, he tries to get a grip on himself, shutting his mouth and folding his arms, trying to play cool…but thoroughly failing. Sonia giggles a little and Knuckles tries to stutter out a response.

"I uh…pfft…come on...Uh…ha ha haa….hmm…" When Sonia waves her hand to dismiss the question, Knuckles slouches his shoulders and releasing his held breath. Sonia asks another question and Knuckles shoves the other one completely out of his mind.

"Well…what was _your_ wish Knuckles?" Sonia asks curiously. Knuckles stares up at the sky once again and eases himself into lying down on the soft blanket. He slowly closes his eyes and yawns audibly.

"It doesn't matter…*yawn*…It's already come true…" Sonia lies down next to him shortly after and wraps her arm around him, rubbing the fur on his chest. They fall asleep to the serene sounds of the angelic Floating Island. In his sleep, Knuckles inadvertently nuzzles closer to Sonia, perhaps because of his primal instinct to stay warm in frigid conditions, or perhaps because for one of the only times in his life, he feels something other than loneliness.

…

After a couple blissful hours, the sun begins to poke his head over the horizon, illuminating the sky in a bright blend of blue and orange. When the shine reflects off of the waterfall, Knuckles is awoken by the gleam that covers his face. Knuckles blinks himself awake and finds that Sonia is still sleeping, and she's buried her face in his chest. All of Knuckles' awkward bashfulness towards females comes into play; he blushes and tightens his body, trying desperately to shy away from the soft pink hedgehog without waking her. He notices that it is dawn, and that Sonia should probably get back with her family before they start to worry.

"Morning already? Well, I'd better get you back to your brothers;" Knuckles says to the still slumbering Sonia, "they're probably going to wake up soon too." He carries her gently toward the direction of his plane. They ride in tranquil silence for about an hour before Sonia comes to; she knows that they are headed toward the city, but some part of her still wants to stay on the date with Knuckles.

"So, we're heading for the city?" Sonia says, rubbing her eyes.

"Yep, we're almost at the spot where we hid your bike…I'm coming in now." Knuckles turns the plane a rough 35 degree angle and lands where Sonia kept the bike. They get out of the plane and Knuckles finally gets to see Sonia's outfit, he likes it, but does not know how to tell her without coming off as creepy, so he politely keeps his thoughts to himself. Sonia sees him look at her outfit and decides to let Knuckles get away with not telling her what he thinks, he was a gentleman, after all. She mounts her bike and Knuckles hands her a helmet and a cloak, so she can enter the city with a little less suspicion.

"Thanks Knuckles, I had a great time." Sonia says.

"No problem Sonia, it was fun; and I'll be happy to take you out again sometime." Knuckles says, slightly more suave than he previously acted. Sonia waves him goodbye and she rides the four miles back to her place daydreaming about Knuckles. As she left, Knuckles sits cross-legged in his plane, contemplating the unfamiliar yet pleasant feelings that go through his mind, all centered on her.

Could he be falling in love?

Sonia quietly walks back into the safe house, all of the lights are off, and so she assumes that Sonic and Manic are sleeping. But what greets her as soon as she shuts the door catches her by surprise.

A light flicks on at the center table. Sonic and Manic are sitting at a table with their arms crossed, and they look condescendingly at Sonia. At nearly five o clock in the morning, her attendance, or should I say her lack of attendance, has gone far from unnoticed. Sonic and Manic are portraying the perfect combination of concerned parents and excitable children as they bombard her with questions about her night out. As they approach her interrogation style, the mood continually lightens as Sonia explains her eventful night. Sonic and Manic are increasingly intrigued, and the more he hears about him, the more Sonic begins to doubt his original thoughts about Knuckles. She goes on to explain the bike race, the factory explosion, and the city escape all the way to the beautiful night, but after the city escape, the boys are too immature to appreciate the romance of the night. But nevertheless, Sonia continued to spell out the event.

"Ooh, how romantic it all was! And you know, he asked me to another date sometime, Ahhh!" Sonia plumps down on Sonic's cot and folds her legs. She has to start her day in just a little while, but she can't bring herself to get an extra couple minutes of sleep, she's too busy living the life of a normal thirteen year old for that… well… in her mind at least.

For the next week, Cyrus and the Sonic Underground were kept busy with low intensity reconnaissance missions, factory infiltrations, and the de-encryption of miscellaneous files. In that week, Sleet and Dingo attempt to trap Sonic with a giant spider web, but unsurprisingly, it fails. Sonic gets in contact with his Uncle Chuck once again, and promises him that he would free him one day from his roboticization. But unfortunately, they could not find their mother. Remarkably, Robotnik himself is nowhere to be seen, probably because he's too busy repairing his control tower after the siblings "returned" Robotniks' supply crafts (refer to episode 40).

You know…same old, same old.


	2. Chapter 2: Promised Day

**This is one of the shorter chapters, and I decided that I would update every few days. Things get a little more tense and mysterious in this chapter, for buckle up for a good read. Remember, reviews are always excepted and appreciated. Now, without further ado, I give you the story.**

The Sonic Underground has recently changed its location to another safe house near the East end of the city, it's slightly more roomy than the last one, and it's a smooth six blocks away from a hidden laboratory. It includes a couch, three cots, and a closet…. Hey, I said it's roomier, not huge. Meanwhile, sitting on one of the cots, Manic and Sonic are having an argument of "_massive_ importance".

"I'm telling you, comic books are going to fail WAY before video games start to lose popularity!" Manic says, moving his arms around widely to emphasize his point. Sonic sits with his arms crossed next to him; acting cool in the face of Manic's… well… manic behavior.

"Nope, in the event of a zombie apocalypse, comic books will be the only entertainment for kids, because nobody could charge their videogames. And people can easily make new comics if they wanted to. Comics are better." Sonic smiles smugly as Manic face palms. Sonia stands in the opposite corner of the room, reading a newspaper. Apparently, there have been many mysterious disappearances of roboticized citizens throughout Robotropolis. And if that wasn't enough, a string of thefts has been occurring lately, focusing mainly on jewelry such as necklaces, bracelets, and rings.

"You can't base your opinion on a zombie apocalypse, that's never going to happen!" Manic places both hands between his locks of hair as he becomes more infuriated by Sonic's nonchalant attitude.

"Well,_ I_ think that if a robot apocalypse could happen, a zombie apocalypse is not far behind. Just face it man, comics are timeless, and they can be made about anything!" Manic finally gives in and plops himself face down onto his cot. Sonic is just _too_ completely unwavering. Satisfied that he won the argument, he walks over to Sonia to see what's on her mind.

"Hello oh prissy sister of mine, watcha doing?" Sonic says, leaning on the wall next to her. Sonia turns her head from the paper to look at Sonic and turns her head back to continue reading; she looks intrigued.

"It says that people have been mysteriously disappearing all over Robotropolis, and that thieves have been stealing a lot of jewelry over the last few days." Sonic eyes Manic, but Manic sees this distrust and immediately begins covering his actions.

"Wasn't me bro, cross my heart." Manic says, waving his finger in a side to side motion in the air. Sonic turns back to Sonia and notices that she's a little distraught, and he knows exactly why. Knuckles never actually tried to contact Sonia after their date, so Sonia feels like Knuckles is trying to stay away from her. It's probably because he has duties on Floating Island, but Sonia can't shake the feeling that something seems wrong.

The knock at the door sends everyone reeling.

Everyone freezes and stands at the door. The mystery person struggles a little with the doorknob and starts to knock again. Sonic, Sonia, and Manic look at the door with thousands of thoughts running through their young minds. _Why would anyone knock at the door if this place is supposed to be abandoned? How did anyone find out where we are? What are we going to do? Most importantly, __who is it?_

Sonic picks up a standing lamp and holds it like a baseball bat while he slowly approaches the door. He calls out at the mystery visitor and waits for a response.

"Ok, who is it?! I warn you, if you're working for Robotnik, you're gonna be sorry!" Sonic leers at the door as defensively as if he is looking at Robotnik himself; with his grip tightening on the lamp handle, he is preparing himself for anyone. Well, almost anyone.

Upon hearing Sonic's voice, the person at the door desperately wants to run away, and run away _fast_. The Swatbots are gaining, but as much as the mystery visitor needs a place to hide, hiding with _them_ is not an option, it just _can't_ be. As much as she feels the need to run, the energy is almost completely spent from her body, she can barely stand. But even if she physically can't run away, that isn't going to stop her from trying. She leans against the door to turn and run, but instead, the doorknob breaks and the door swings open. Her knees lose all of their strength and she hits her head hard on the doorknob.

The second she busts into the room, Sonic made for the door with the lamp, but when he sees the visitor's identity, he nearly stops in his tracks. Sonic quickly drops the lamp and runs forth, extending both of his arms to catch the injured woman. Sonic stands there shocked as his mother lay motionless in his arms.

When Aleena blinks her eyes open, she sees the soft blue silhouette of her son before losing consciousness. From her clutched hand, she drops a sweaty flash drive, sending a faint *clink* through the otherwise noiseless room. Manic is the first one to make a move.

"MOM!" Manic runs over to his mother's side and grabs her limp hand, crying softly and pressing it against his eyes. Sonia runs over to the door, noticing that the sound of Swatbot sirens is coming closer.

"Sonic! The Swatbots are coming, do something!" Sonia says, and in less than a second, Sonic carefully takes off Aleena's cloak and puts it on. He rushes out of the door and goes to the corner to wait for the Swatbots to catch up. As soon as the Swatbots race past the hidden safe house, Sonic rounds the corner with Aleena's cloak trailing behind him. The reaction from the Swatbots is immediate; they spray rows of bullets towards their target, hoping to eliminate the spy who stole the files from Robotnik. However, Sonic dodges their bullets with ease, ducking in and out of alleyways, he purposefully moves slower than usual, trying to lead the Swatbots away from his family. After about fourteen blocks, Sonic finally decides that he's had enough fun. He speeds ahead of his competition and turns a corner. When the robots follow, all they see is the cloak of Queen Alena with no actual target in sight. The confused Swatbots are commanded to scan the area, but by the time they do, Sonic has already returned back to the base with his family…_all_ his family.

….

Meanwhile, Robotnik is in his new base of operations, an undisclosed location far from the city of Robotropolis; and he is not happy.

"RAAHHH!" Robotnik pounds his fist on the side of his hovering chair and stares at the live footage from the chase, extremely peeved that the Swatbots let the one and only Queen Aleena get away from them.

"You incompetent droids! How could you let her get away! Bah! Never mind. Run a full perimeter search, find her at all costs!" Robotnik buries his face in his hand as a roboticized minion walks into the room with a cup of coffee. In a fit of rage, Robotnik takes the cup and throws it at the Robians' head; then he immediately tells the minion to get him another one. Left alone now, Robotnik ponders how Queen Alena was able to get away from her robots. _The explosion from the bomb should have at least stunned her, the security system should have __killed__ her… but in the end, it seemed like she started going __faster__, what could it mean? Unless… It __wasn't__ Queen Aleena who escaped from the robots. That's it! It had to be somebody else… but __whom__? _To disrupt his train of though is the scrawny coward Sleet and his massively muscular henchman Dingo; they wear malicious grins as they near Robotnik, pleased with their work thus far.

Sleet laughs nasally as he is ready to inform Robotnik of their progress. Dingo copies Sleet, but Sleet promptly tells him to shut up.

"Dr. Robotnik…" Sleet says self-satisfyingly. Robotnik whirls around in his chair and barks at the two henchmen, not in the mood for talking, but Sleet continues anyway.

"We have just finished brutalizing your new prisoner, and this time, he finally lost consciousness; he's at the roboticizer as we speak." Robotnik is happy to hear the change in his luck and laughs wickedly, but he cannot shake the feeling of impending misfortune from his mind.

"MUA HAA HA!" Good! Well, what are you two waiting for?! Roboticize that pest!" Sleet and Dingo swiftly run out of the room, disturbed by Robotnik's poorly-hidden unease; could something be going on that he's not telling them? Robotnik stands up and walks over to the computer monitors, flicking on an image of Queen Aleena and her three baby children.

"Queen Aleena…" Robotnik says absently. "If you think that your latest futile efforts are going to stop my complex criminal consortium, then you are mistaken." He clenches his fist and shouts at the big glass screen. "You and your children will be bowing down to me; their skulls under the heel of my boot! MUAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHA!" His voice reverberates through the massive metal room.


	3. Chapter 3: Infiltration

**I am going to update every couple of days from now on. Thank you for reading this story, I really tried to give the Grand Finale one of the most spectacular plots I could think of, and I apologize if i wasn't what you're looking for. As for the people who really enjoy the story, I give you the Third Chapter...**

Cyrus walks into the main room of a new safe house that the Hedgehogs have located to, this time in the dead center of the city. The center of the room has a torn suede couch; holding a most royal of users, a healing Queen Aleena. Kneeling by her side are Sonic, Sonia, and Manic, all anticipating her recovery. Queen Aleena is looking better; Manic and Sonic dressed her wounds as best as they could, and Sonia cleaned her up and put a blanket over her. She's not wearing her dress, instead she wears a black tank top and tights, all tattered from her recent experiences, whatever they might have been. Cyrus's appearance is barely noticed.

Cyrus carries over a tray, holding a cup of juice, a bowl of water, and a first-aid kit. He sets it down next to the couch and dips a small cloth into the bowl of water; he wrings it out and lays it on top of Aleena's head, attempting to treat her head wound from hitting the doorknob. The concerned siblings finally decide to acknowledge Cyrus's presence.

"Cyrus, is she going to wake up soon?" Sonia questions.

"Yeah, and can you tell what happened to her?" asks Sonic.

Cyrus returns the rag the bowl of water and starts working on the wound with the first aid kit. As he provides the aid, he answers the questions.

"I don't know when she'll wake up, but I suggest letting her sleep for now, she looks like she's been through a lot." Cyrus finishes administering the bandages and returns the medical supplies to the case. "I won't be able to tell what happened to her until she's able to speak with us."

The entire time, Manic is speechless; he wants to speak, but just can't. They were searching so long to find her, but now that they have, they can't go right to being a family again; they still have to fight Robotnik, to stop him and his horrific schemes from taking total control over Mobius. Robotnik has robbed his family, from each other, from their peace, and even from their freedom. But even with so many things on his mind, Manic cannot help but feel happy; his mother is with them once again. He holds her hand lovingly and presses it against his muzzle, letting the tears spill freely from his face. As technically the youngest (born last), Manic lets his emotions run more freely than Sonic, who keeps it together solely for the sake of everyone else.

Unexpectedly, Queen Aleena starts stroking Manic's spines. She smiles at him and he looks back at her with wide eyes. She blinks herself awake and starts to focus on her surroundings, beginning to feel the pain from her injuries. She winces, but in just a couple seconds, she sits up and rubs her head to find that there's a bandage on it, and that three of her children and another child are all staring at her with anxious looks on their faces.

"Mom?" the triplets say in unison. Queen Aleena smiles at first but immediately begins panicking when she realizes that her flash drive is gone.

"Ah! The flash drive! Where is it?!" Queen Aleena stands up in frenzied panic; The siblings try to calm her down all at once, a little overwhelmed by the situation, but it is Cyrus who eases her back down, assuring her that the flash drive is sitting in his portable laboratory case, completely intact. Upon hearing the good news, Aleena lays back down on the couch, suddenly remembering that she's injured. Cyrus hands her the cup of juice from the tray, and she drinks eagerly; she sighs and chuckles a little bit, prompting even further confusion from her kids.

"Why are you laughing mom?" Sonic asks. She looks back to him and answers sweetly.

"Because the day has come for us to come together and defeat Robotnik; I'm sure of this now." She points to the laboratory with the hand that Manic is not holding. "The flash drive that you friend has contains a fateful mark of Robotnik's paranoia. This paranoia will be his undoing."

"What's in the flash drive mother?" Sonia asks, intrigued by Aleena's words.

"It holds the blueprints to Dr. Robotnik's **_Anti-Roboticizer_**." Aleena says, smiling proudly. Everyone is sent into shock at the words, but no one more than Cyrus, who starts questioning her more than her own kids have even begun to.

"An **anti-roboticizer**? How is that possible? And how did you get the blueprints for it?" Cyrus inquires in excitement. Aleena sits up to begin her tale but first she has a few requests.

"I will tell you, but first…" She spreads her arms out wide and her children immediately understand… she hasn't hugged her kids in almost fourteen years. They all throw themselves into her arms and hug her tightly. Aleena cries, but they are tears of happiness. Her little bundles of the joy, the ones that she had to part with in order to save the world, and to save their lives, were now so _grown!_ In that moment, the children are overcome with so many emotions that even the steadfast blue hedgehog has a few stray tears running down his cheeks.

Cyrus, who looks on at the family happily, (yet still a little impatient), waits for them to finish their monumental group hug. After they are done, they all wipe the tears from their eyes and Aleena continues to make her requests.

"Second thing …" Aleena continues boldly. Cyrus opens his mouth to protest, but before he can say a single word, Aleena interrupts him with her laughably straightforward demand.

"I want a large chili dog with extra chili and make it extra spicy. Escaping from Robotnik can make a girl hungry you know!" The queen says, patting her flat stomach with a comical tongue sticking out of the side of her lips. Sonic can't help but turn to Cyrus and laugh, despite Cyrus's obvious annoyance. I guess some things you just can't get rid of through the generations! Cyrus, being the metaphorical "Mr. Serious" in the room full of jokes that he just was not getting, assures Aleena that she will receive her chili dog later.

"Ok, I promise I will get you the chili dog later, but for now, can you please tell us what happened? I'm positive that I'm not the only one in the room who wants to know…" And he would be right; her appearance has been in the backs of all of their minds ever since she just happened upon them. An explanation would not only shed light on the mystery of her recent excursion, but it will also ensure that less questions be asked in more critical moments in the future.

And just like that, Queen Aleena regales her children and Cyrus with the heart-pounding story of her arduous trek. The children all sit down in criss-cross positions and are completely captivated by Queen Alena's melodious voice. It all started with a chance encounter with the one and only Oracle of Delphius…

…

_It was a rather noisy night one week ago when I was sleeping in an abandoned building, when I was awoken by a loud crashing sound. The sound lasted for a moment, but when it faded, I immediately fell right back to sleep._

Sonia stirs a little bit, knowing that the crash she heard must have been a result of her and Knuckles's date, meaning that their mother was not far from them after all.

_But a couple minutes later, the Oracle teleported into my room and informed me of something that I could not ignore. He told me that Robotnik's reign was close to coming to an end. I asked questions, but the Oracle simply replied with: "Answers will present themselves to you soon young Queen, but if you want the truth, you must seek it." You know, sometimes, I wish that guy would give me a straight answer._

The siblings laugh at this inquiry, yet Cyrus is awkwardly left in the dark about the obscure inside joke. Come to think of it, he is not entirely sure who the oracle is, he just heard about him from some short mentions by Sonic.

_Anyway, deciding that I needed to do a little investigating, I hacked my way into Robotnik's smaller semi-computers; it was a difficult task, but once I analyzed floor plans, vent fixtures, and found breaks in Robotnik's security details, I decided to infiltrate his base to get to the main computer, where I suspected that most of his important files were being held._

_"_Wait," Sonia questions, "You went in all by yourself? That's suicide!"

"Yeah," Sonic agrees, "Robuttnik's got that place filled to the brim with his traps and Swats, why'd you risk it?" Sonic finishes; Aleena rubs her arms, being careful not to put pressure on the many scrapes and bruises that adorned her body like splattered paint.

"Yes, I realize now that that might not have been my wisest decision, but I had no other choice…" Queen Aleena suddenly fumbles her words, stumbling over a smile that came to her young face, "Did you just call him…*snicker* Ro**butt**nik?" Aleena looks amusingly at Sonic, who blushes and grins nervously in return, realizing that his mother has never heard that joke before.

"Yeah, I screwed up talking once and it just kind of stuck, I guess." Queen Aleena pats him on the head and ruffles his spines; she loves the fact that her children are so clever. Shortly after, she continues her narration.

_Anyway, when I infiltrated the base, I saw the files and began downloading them to the flash drive. I really did try just to download, not to look into the files, knowing that I would just look over them later, but one title caught my eye; the blueprints for the de-roboticizer. I just had to click and see what it was about…._

"A de-roboticizer?" Aleena whispers while standing at the main computer with her hands on the keys. _Don't do it Aleena, remember you've got to keep focused, I will read it later_; Aleena thinks. The download is taking a while, and until it has been completed, Aleena can only stand anxious at the monitor. Surely, one little peek would do no harm…

She clicks open the file and begins to read, the first page is an excerpt from Robotnik's digital diary. It explains in detail the events of an accident that had occurred in the beginnings of his rule. As she read, the page behind flickered with the downloading screens.

"Third month: fifth day, 12 years ago. In the event of an accidental self-roboticization, these plans are of the utter importance. When I was roboticizing subjects, a standard practice at that point, one psychotic yellow fox woman attempted to shove me into the machine, and as it would have it, her suicidal fox husband joined in and I fell forward. My imbecile robots nearly stole my humanity away when they flicked on the machine; it was only because of Sleet and Dingo that I came out intact. I made sure that the two animals never again saw the light of day. But still, their impact gripped me with what can be considered fear, and even as I type this, my hands are shaking violently; I have decided to reverse engineer and modify the plans of a standard roboticizer to create a machine that would consequently have the adverse effects. The de-roboticization process, unlike the traditional roboticization, will be quick and painless, in fact, I am the only one would use it if it ever came to that."

When she finishes reading, the download has already been completed, but by now the damage has been done. As soon as the files transferred, a silent alarm alerted all the robots to the control tower, and before long, Aleena hears them coming. Aleena yanks the drive from the socket and starts for the air vent, but is taken aback when she hears a faint beeping sound resonating from the computer. By the time she deciphers what it may be, her body is hurled to one side of the room by the massive explosion. She lands against a flat wall, and miraculously, she sustains only minor burns and bruises. Not wasting time now, she heads for one of the doors of the right side of the room, only to be met by menacing Swatbots.

She uses incredible energetic ability (paired with rushing adrenaline), rather than excessive force to escape her enemies. Like Manic, she has no physical superpowers, so using resourcefulness is a crucial survival skill. Careful not to lose the small piece of hardware, she sticks it deep in her sock before going off to fight the robots and pursue the exit. A row of five robots await her in the hallway. As one robot lunges forward, she swiftly grabs its arm and pulls it to her side, using its own body weight against it. As two other robots went to shoot her, she ducks quickly and runs through their legs; the robots accidentally flip themselves over when following her with their straightforward gaze. With the next robot, she takes a ponytail from her wrist and flicks it straight into the robots' stare, the harmless projectile was fast enough to trigger a response from the robot, and Aleena was easily able to sprint past. The last and final robot is what made Aleena's mission harder from that point.

The robot swings its massive arm and it hits Aleena square in the temple. She stumbles back with blood dripping into her hair, and the robot aims its turrets straight at the downed Queen. Aleena dodges right to avoid the turrets, but is latched onto by the robots' massive other arm. In a fit of panic, she swings all her body weight to the side, causing the robot to shoot out all around him. The bullets consequently, made the side wall weak, and when Aleena and the robot lost their balance, she was sent through the wall, plummeting stories to the floor of the city.

Aleena separates herself from the robot and attempts to use her cloak to steady her descent; FWOOSH! The cape springs open and Aleena falls away from the tower. The robot, which was not so lucky, bursts onto the ground into a spray of scrap metal. Aleena keeps her glide going for a moment, but the cape, not designed for flight, tears where she held it, causing the cape to twist and for her to plummet into what appears to be a residential area.

"Whoa!" Clotheslines and awnings decorate balconies and the square, and Aleena heads straight for them. She first hits an awning, but she slips off and falls against a clothesline, which snaps easily and she hits another, which doesn't snap, but she falls off because of balance issues. A continuum of these various mishaps continues until she falls straight through one man's awning on the first floor, landing on his assortment of wooden crates and baskets. The man is completely surprised and starts scolding Aleena to get off of his merchandise.

"Did someone get the number of that bus..?" Aleena stands up, obviously dizzy from the head spinning event, and shakes her head to clear her thoughts.

"Oh bother, my clothes are filthy!" Aleena says, dusting off the dirt from her shirt and bottom; she hates getting dirty. She reaches down to pull the flash drive out of her sock; the device is undamaged, unlike her. She has more wounds on her body than she would care to count, made painfully clear by the throbbing in her head. Just as Aleena brushes the hair from her face, the shopkeeper recognizes her and bows down.

"Why, my Queen! I am sorry for my tone earlier. Are you ok, your majesty?" Other residents watch in interest, but the sheepish Aleena smiles nervously, holding her hands up to try to get him to stop. She certainly doesn't feel very majestic, and is somewhat ashamed to have her loyal citizen bowing down to her while she is in such a sorry state.

"Thank you, but really, I must be going…" Just then, robots begin to speed over the buildings and down into the street where Aleena landed. Aleena looks up and sees the descending robots; she then waves to her subject and hightails it down the road. The Swatbots barrel past the streets, but Queen Aleena sneaks in between alleyways and buildings to evade the robots. Her legs start aching, and her lungs start burning from the strenuous task. But no matter how long she tries, the police-borgs continue to tail her, unwavering in their efforts. Aleena soon recognizes that she needs to change her tactics before she exhausts all her energy. She runs for thirty blocks, muscles sore and aching, and when she gets enough of a head-start, she knocks on the door of a somewhat inconspicuous house to ask for refuge.

As destiny would have it, the voice behind the door was that of her own child, and now, she is where she is today.

After she finishes her tale, the children shower her with well-deserved compliments, and the Queen is humbled with the praise, she was only doing what her heart told her was right, and apparently, it worked to astounding results. Sonic, Cyrus, and Sonia all try to ask questions; Manic though, is still silent. Aleena hushes down the other kids and scoots herself closer to Manic, who is staring down at his hands. With a little work, Aleena stands herself up and walks over to Manic, who distanced himself from the others.

"What's wrong Manic?" Aleena asks, concerned for her son. Manic clenches his hands into fists and shuts his eyes tight. Tears start coming down his muzzle and Aleena hugs him; Manic clasps his arms around her body and starts to cry out why he is so distraught.

"You could have been killed mom! *sniff* If that happened, I don't know what we would have done! We waited so long to find you, and you're here…*sniff* you're here and now…*sniff* now we can't just be a family again… *whimper* We still have to wait…. All Because Of Robotnik! Wahh!" Aleena strokes his hair calmly, soothing him with her kind touch. It's true, they can't relax, not before they defeat Robotnik, and they still don't know how to do that yet. But even so, Aleena finds the positive in the situation, staying strong for the sake of her children.

"My son… yes, Robotnik still has to be defeated, but that is in the future." Aleena leans down and kisses Manic on the head, and Manic looks up at herwith his watery eyes. "But today, we are together once again. And now, we will use our combined might to trump him once and for all. We have to. Do not cry my son, for there are brighter days ahead. I love you Manic." Aleena says with her motherly wisdom.

"I love you too Mom." Manic says. Sonic and Sonia look at the duo, knowing that Manic was probably the most affected by reuniting with their mother. As Sonic and Sonia look at their brother sympathetically, Cyrus realizes that he's intruding on a sensitive family moment and steps into the other room, the one with his portable laboratory. Retrieving the laptop from his bag, he is both excited and anxious to see what it says on the flash drive; even though he is aware of other material on the memory device, he is most interested about the prospect of the Anti-Roboticizer. He starts up his computer and wastes no time placing in the device, the files flood the screen. Robotnik's diary entries, supply lines, Swatbot blueprints, and of course, the Anti-Roboticizer plans.

But one thing catches his eye. Among the other files, it is almost completely indiscernible, but it's the name of the file that makes Cyrus stop his click for the Anti-Roboticizer file. Cyrus's face contorts into a look of utter shock when he reads the file name.

"Roboticization records?" Cyrus says horrified.

"What was that Cyrus?" Sonic says as he speeds into the smaller room. Following him are the rest of the Hedgehogs, who have just finished their family moment. Cyrus is reluctant to say, because the very thought of it makes him want to cringe.

"Oh, it's nothing…"

"Come on Cyrus, tell the truth." Sonia says, giving Cyrus a playfully skeptical glance. If only she knew. Cyrus sighs and clicks on the file, scrolling through the extensive list of names that cover the list. There must be hundreds.

"Robotnik documented all the names of the people who have been Roboticized so far." He could hardly believe it, to Robotnik, these people, whose free will he completely stripped away, are only letters on a computer to him, categorized by time and date. Everyone has sullen looks on their faces, but Cyrus attempts to look at the brighter side.

"Don't worry guys, we'll figure out a way to turn all those people back, I promise." Cyrus scrolls back up to the top of the page to lower the screen when a notification pops up for new entries in the list. The computer asks him to refresh, and to get the window out of the way, he clicks the refresh button. Once it's out of the way, Cyrus scrolls his cursor over the minimize button.

"STOP!" Sonia yells, scaring the wits out of everyone in the room. Cyrus is startled out of his chair and quickly turns around, only to find that Sonia has thrown herself at the laptop, causing Cyrus to be shoved out of the way. She stands trembling at the screen; her eyes wide open with terror.

"Sonia!" Sonic runs over to the laptop and follows Sonia's numb gaze. When his eyes cautiously follow, he steps back in disbelieve as the words "ECHIDNA, KNUCKLES" are pasted in lifeless black print on the blinding white screen.


	4. Chapter 4: Island Blues

**Sorry This one took a while, but now that it's up, the story will go on.**

**They made a vow, their mother will be found...but then what? With Knuckles under the control of Robotnik, what will the siblings do next, what else will they find on the files Robotnik has? And what will be their next move? As the story advances, will overcome the obstacles that stand in their way, or has destiny changed due to Queen Aleena's appearance?**

**Answers to come today...**

Despite keeping it together so far, Sonia drops to her knees and cups her face in her hands. Sonic kneels down at her side and pats her back as she cries loudly, and pretty soon, the rest of the family huddles around her. Slowly, Cyrus walks over to the computer and risks opening the file to read the information; the profile is complete with his facts, a description, and even a picture. His eyes were replaced by a yellow grid, and his eyes were ringed with a mask of bright white metal. Down the bottoms of his eyes all the way to his chin were two long stripes of neon green. And his body had four white metal armor plates decorating his front side. His back had two metal plates adorning the center of his spine. His feet no longer had his shoes; in their places were large metal claws, resembling wolf's feet more than his own. A metal plated spine ran from the top of his head and stuck up at its end. And the worst part was his hands, if they could even be called that. His thumbs were the same, but the tops of his hands ran down horrible, long, metal claws that reached all the way to the floor. But the description was even worse, Cyrus couldn't let Sonia read it, it would break her heart.

Cyrus exits out of the file and clicks on the anti-roboticizer file. He then takes his laptop to the other room, letting her relatives calm Sonia down. Clicking on the main file, Cyrus is amazed at the caliber of mad genius that it would have taken to conceive the plans for an Anti-Roboticizer; the radical yet brilliant ideas put into the project would have taken a lifetime for ordinary scientists to come up with, yet Robotnik came up with it in a little under a decade. You can call Robotnik many things, a dictator, a totalitarian, the bringer of destruction, but an idiot is not one of them. The explicit instructions would take the help of other resistance intellects to decipher, but once they did, Cyrus could assure that they would waste no time building the prototypes.

Cyrus copies the blueprints to about five different files and sends them to other hidden laboratories throughout the underground world. He takes extra precautions to ensure that they are secure. After that, he begins looking through some of the other information Aleena was able to gather, and the first thing he finds is Robotnik's digital journal. The journal is filled with rants about the Hedgehogs, apparently they get under his skin more than he realized. In addition, they give the location of Robotnik's new Base of Operations, simply titled, "New Base."

"Uh oh." Cyrus mutters under his breath. "Sonic!" he calls. Sonic is reluctant to leave his sis, but he decides that whatever Cyrus has to say is important enough. In less than a second, Sonic is peering over Cyrus's shoulder at the computer screen.

"What is it Cyrus?" Sonic says.

"Take a look here;" Cyrus says, pointing toward the computer screen. "This is apparently the location for Robotnik's new base. Tell me; are you familiar with the **_Floating Island_**?" Sonic repeated Cyrus's "uh oh" when he saw the document. He wipes his palm over his face and sucks in air through his nose. He brings the tips of his gloves to his lips and begins speaking.

"Oh man, Sonia's not going to like this…"Sonic pinches his forehead and takes a deep breath. "What else does it say Cyrus?" Sonic asks.

"Well, there's a picture." Cyrus clicks on a small link that enlarges a picture of the Floating Island for Sonic too see, and it does not look good.

"Oh, Come on!" Sonic yells in frustration. The entire Island has been roboticized from the crust to the tips of the mountains. The trees were all still visible, the ones surrounding the island looked untouched, but the ones nearest the center had a metallic film over them, concealing their organic nature. The grass, though untouched, is littered with traps like springs, pitfalls, and spikes to keep any "intruding Hedgehogs" from entering the island recklessly. The journal also says that most of the animals that didn't escape were put into robots and decorate the island as Robotnik's guards. In the center of the Island is the core of the base, a giant tower in the side of the mountain, with a large dome at the top that watches the island from a 360 degree angle; surrounding the tower are additional lookout posts that make sure that intruders aren't hiding in the thick trees. And the whole place is littered with Swatbots.

"Man, first Knux, and now this? Oh man o man, Robotnik's got his work cut out for him, what's he even planning anyway?" Sonic says dumbfounded. Just then, his family walks into the room, even Sonia, but he has her head hung down and her hair in front of her face, Sonic thinks it best to just leave her to her thoughts for now, there are much more _pressing_ matters to attend to at the moment. Cyrus glances through the files and returns to Sonic an undesired answer.

"Sorry Sonic, but it doesn't say what Robotnik is planning, I'll keep looking for clues, but I don't think he would have spilled out his entire strategy on a computer…he might just be keeping the plans in his mind." Cyrus says begrudgingly.

"Well I guess we're just gonna have to knock it out of him!" Manic says confidently. Everyone is shocked at Manic's display of confidence, but Manic just continues to smile with a determined grin on his face, the look of a champion. He walks to the middle of the room and sticks his hand out flat.

"We're going to help all those people! Even if we're outmatched, we're never going to give up, that's not what heroes do! Robotnik is not going to get away with this, and no way is he going to take over the world, or is going to keep Mobotropolis! Mom, Sonic, Sonia... this is our kingdom! Now, who's with me? Sonic Underground?" With his hand outstretched, Sonic puts his hand on first, and Sonia, even with her eyes slightly puffy, puts her hand on too. Aleena only watched, but Manic wasn't going to stand for that.

"Come on Mom, you're part of the Sonic Underground too!" Aleena smiles and walks over to the three, and puts her hand on the pile, completing the team. A bright smile gleams across Manic's face and he examines his family with an unspeakably warm feeling in his heart.

"Who are we!?" Manic questions in an attempt to hype up his family. All together, the Hedgehogs dip their hands and raise them high up in the air, cheering loudly in unison.

"THE SONIC UNDERGROUND!"

…

"Ok, so are you guys positive you can go through with this?" Cyrus asks Sonic. Right now, they are at Port Mobius, and they have readied a small stealth boat for the journey. Everyone is garbed in black clothing, and the boat is also painted the chic dark color. The boat moves fast, and it has little supplies, including some water, cameras, cloaking devices, hover boards, and some of Cyrus's specially-made gadgets.

After searching the information that Aleena had obtained, Cyrus regrettably found that there was no information about Robotnik's sudden presence on the Floating Island. However, if they could somehow infiltrate the Floating Island, they are positive that they could find more information about Robotnik's plans. It's a dangerous task, and after Aleena's recent infiltration, Robotnik has to be on edge; setting foot on the Floating Island might be considered crazy, and it very much is.

But performing dangerous stunts and missions isn't exactly "new" to the siblings. And now that their friend was captured, they will stop at nothing to find a way to change him back. If only they knew what Robotnik was planning…

"Let's Roll." Sonic says, hopping onto the boat. And like that, they were off.

For about twenty minutes, the siblings discuss strategy while Cyrus drive and occasionally chimes in with his opinion. However, Sonia seems to be the least talkative of the siblings, which is troublesome to Sonic. And again, his brotherly intuition tells him exactly why, he knows that Sonia was with Knuckles on Floating Island just a week ago, and now that everything has changed so much, Sonia might be a little shocked to see what it has become. But Sonic knows Sonia well, and that she would not let her emotions interfere with the mission at hand…everyone that they care about is on the line here. Not just Knuckles, but also Lady Windermere, Uncle Chuck, Sonic's adoptive parents, and Ferrell. If nothing is done, they will stay roboticized forever.

But for now, the plan is settled. Cyrus and Manic will stay behind in the boat while Sonic and Sonia quietly enter the Island undetected. Once there, they will head for the heart of the Island and set up small and undetectable cameras in well-placed yet inconspicuous spots for surveillance. Once the cameras are placed, they will exit the Floating Island and return to port Mobius. Sounds simple, but security is without a doubt going to be tight.

Robots encircle the Floating Island, scanning the waters and the skies for potential intruders. Using the silent engine of the boat and his incredible vehicle maneuvering capabilities, Cyrus keeps to the shadows of the floating island and dodges the detection of the robots. He slows down as the boat reaches the direct underside of the Island.

"Ready?" Cyrus whispers, gaining a curt nod from two of the hedgehogs. He retrieves one of his new gadgets, a small device with a hook on one end and a spike on the other and crawls over to the middle of the boat. Attached to the middle of the boat is a ring where Cyrus firmly fastens the hook end of the device. He carefully aims the device up to the bottom of the island and presses a small red button on the side of the device, causing the spike to shoot up and plant itself in the hard-packed dirt. The spike further fastens itself by extending three retractable appendages and drilling itself further into the island. Cyrus then hands Sonia and Sonic the things they need. They include two cloaking devices, one for each of them, communication watches, a map with designated areas marked, a pair of black hover boards, a small bag of pencil-sized cameras, and a swift and meaningful: "Good Luck."

Sonic and Sonia each mount their hover boards with the items in tow; they slide up the rope leading to the underside of the island. They are much less likely to be seen if they are flying near the island rather than out in the open. Once the two siblings are at the top of the rope, they carefully maneuver their boards out from the bottom of the island and work their way up to the island's earth. They made sure they were close to the island at all times, keeping one of their hands on the island at all times during their ascent. Avoiding the deadpan of the mindless drones surrounding the island, the seemingly insignificant Sonic and Sonia slip into the thickly wooded island undetected.

Sonic and Sonia immediately get to work positioning the cameras in their needed places. The first area marked on the map is in the middle of the jungle, along a path that would lead to the location of the island's chaos emerald. Sonia and Sonic bounce to and from the trees, following the patterns of the wind to make their rustling seem like a product of the breeze. However, Sonic sees robots patrolling under the trees, and can't help but realize that they are not the Swatbots.

"Sonia, look." Sonic whispers while pointing at the small drones under the tree branches. Sonia balances herself on the tree and looks to what Sonic is pointing at; indeed, it is not a Swatbot, but a different kind of robot entirely.

"It must be one of the one of the animals that Robotnik trapped in a robot." Sonia whispers, feeling sorry for the little creature. Sonic leers at the robot, wanting very much to set it free, but when he lets go of the tree branch to jump down; Sonia grabs him by the arm.

"You can't!" Sonia whispers fiercely and pulls Sonic back into the tree. "If you do that, then Robotnik will know that we're here. You have to let it go for now." Sonic sighs and looks at the robot sadly as it drives off into the distance; he loves nature and all of the other non-anthropomorphic woodland creatures, it hurt him to just stand by while they remained confined to their individual metallic prisons.

Ever since Sonic was little, he loved playing with the little animals that used to wander by; how how he used to chase the Pickys and Cuckys around and jump through the air to catch the Flickys, how he would take naps in the grass and they would cuddle up next to him. Though he would never keep them, they had their own free lives to live. Sonia and Manic don't know this little secret about Sonic, but he loves the little woodland creatures, and leaving one behind is like leaving behind one of his friends. Nevertheless, there was a mission to be accomplished, and Sonic was not about to let everyone down.

Sonic and Sonia bounced through the trees and snuck past the prying eyes of the Swat bots long enough to put down nine of the ten pencil sized cameras in the designated areas with little difficulty, not as they put down the last camera, Sonic spots something…. _unusual. _

"Hey Sonia, look at that." Pointing toward the trees, Sonia can see it too. There is a faint glowing coming from a patch in the forest with little trees. Though suspicious, Sonia tries to keep her attention toward positioning the last camera, finding it extremely difficult because of Sonic's pestering. Sonic stares off into the direction of the patch for some time, wondering if something is going to happen that might drive them from the island, but other than the glow, there is nothing else odd about the area.

That is, until they hear a scream.

Sonic's ears perk up high and he is shocked; the voice, though distorted with the intensity of the shriek, was as clear as day. Sonia freezes and stares at the camera at her now-shaking hands, her pupils dilated with fear as the scream rings in her ears, and before she could even process what had just happened, another scream was heard, more powerful this time.

Sonic has to catch the camera from falling over when Sonia suddenly leaps from the tree in a frenzied panic. In less than a heartbeat, Sonic finishes positioning the camera and runs after Sonia. But unlike Sonia, he doesn't stop her from advancing, be it adrenaline, or an extremely childish miscalculation, Sonic was too panicking the slightest bit. Sonia was right to be scared, Knuckles, one of her dearest friends, is here, alive, and by the sound of it, in a lot of pain.

Sonia presses the button on her hover board and activates it to its full size before speeding off with it. Sonic copies her actions and pursues Sonia all the way to the edge of the thick trees. Surprisingly, neither Sonia nor Sonic made a sound as they traveled, and they have Cyrus's gadgets to thank for that. At the edge of the clearing, Sonic manages to stops Sonia before she rushes out, Sonic may be rash, but not_ that_ rash. Sonia turns to him with an angry look on her face, but when she looks into Sonic's calm eyes, she understands that she is acting frantic.

She shoves Sonic off of her, embarrassed about her reckless behavior. Sonic then motions to her bag, and she hands it to him. From the bag, he pulls the two cloaking devices from it and places one in the center of Sonia's chest and presses the button, turning her invisible. Sonic then repeats the action on himself, and the two invisible hedgehogs hold hands and sneak silently into the area. In one corner of the lot is a small and flat building, one of which they do not know the purpose; and in each corner of the lot are large spotlights that illuminate the patch of land. Turns out that the scattered "trees" that Sonic saw it the lot before were cleverly disguised beams that held ladders for construction crews to work on. Only there was one problem; there is nothing there. The beams would be used to reach a high work of construction, but there was none, only the ground was between the beams. But the ground wasn't exactly normal.

Just when their curiosity peaks, Knuckles screams ring through the patch of land. They run to the direction of the scream, which is coming from the building on the other side of the area. Even though Sonic can't see Sonia, he feels that she's very frightened; he swears that he can feel her shaking. At the entrance of the building, the doors are wide open, but it is extremely dark inside, spiking Sonic's instincts. Something is not right, and Sonic's not about to let his dear sister get hurt. Feet from the building, Sonic stops Sonia and even though she tugs at him to let her go, Sonic grasps her shoulders and whispers to her fiercely, but also sincerely.

"Sonia, you can't go in there, it's obviously one of Buttnik's traps!" But Sonia will have no part of it, she struggles in his arms, but he's just too strong for her.

"Let me go Sonic! Knuckles _needs_ us!" Sonia tries biting Sonic's arm, but he grits his teeth through the pain and tries to knock sense into Sonia.

"Sonia, I'm not going to lose both my sister _and_ Knuckles, Buttnik's baiting us, and he knows we're here! We have to go now!" Sonic whispers, all too serious. Against Sonia's wishes, he picks her up and carries her out toward the trees. An alarm blares through the facility and the spotlights create a barrier to the forest. Sonic screeches to a halt and puts down Sonia before they reach the barrier. He throws a rock toward the barrier, but the barrier electrocutes it and shoots it back towards him, making him duck to avoid losing an eye.

With no regard for his volume anymore, Sonic yells what both of them have on their minds.

"We're trapped!" Sonia and Sonic disengage their cloaking devices, no use for them now, besides, the battery is limited. They hear a menacing _whurrr… _and when they hear the infamous cackling of Dr. Robotnik, they shoot their gazes toward his direction.

"Mua Ha HA! That's right hedgehogs!" Robotnik yells with obvious spite in his voice. He rode in a Swat Mobile, and the large front window of the hover craft is wide open, revealing the doctor himself riding alongside about four Swatbots. Sonic and Sonia scowl at the robust doctor, ashamed that they were caught in their mission. Sonia turns away for a moment and cups her hand over her mouth while Sonic smart-mouths Robotnik.

"Enjoy it now bud, because we're not gonna stick around for long." Sonic says with confident smirk across his muzzle, but despite this enthusiasm, Robotnik is not scared in the least.

"Sorry hedgehog, but I beg to differ…Oh, Knuckles!" Robotnik yells mockingly out toward the direction of the building, and just like that, the roboticized Knuckles walks out, completely fine if not for the metal skins that affect his mind and body. "You see hedgehog, he will do whatever I command. A walking powerhouse completely under my control, and since he's your ally, I know that you won't harm him!" Robotnik proudly proclaims.

"What are your orders Master?" Knuckles says. His voice is still all there, but as he talks, a small a faint metallic buzz can be heard reverberating at the back of his throat. Sonic hears this in Knuckles voice, and cannot help look over into his direction with a nervous yet stern look planted on his face.

"Nothing yet Knuckles, but don't fret, you'll get your chance soon enough." Robotnik didn't just strip him of his freedom, he stripped him of his mind, of his own body; deep within that loyal robotic shell lays the one and only Knuckles the Echidna, guardian of the Floating Island, friend to the Royal family. He may be hot-headed and gullible at times, and not the smoothest when it comes to girls, but he's still a friend, and almost family to the siblings. Though Sonic cares about him, he ignores his emotions to focus on the true enemy at hand, Dr. Robotnik.

"What do you think you're doing Robotnik? You're going to destroy this island!" In response, Robotnik just scoffs at him.

"I could care less about this island, what I care about is how perfect this island is for implementing my greatest scheme ever! And I have you to thank for it Sonic, if you didn't destroy my last base, I wouldn't have this new one, nor would I have my greatest roboticized weapon!" Sonic scowls at Robotnik, but he did strike a nerve. What has he done? Because of him, this beautiful island was destroyed and all of those defenseless animals are trapped, and his ally is now Robotnik's mindless slave. But even if he feels somewhat guilty for this, he is unwavering in his defiance against Robotnik. Oh no, he's just getting started. Both his deceptive capabilities and his wisecracks remain unfaltering.

"Whatever your planning Scuzbotnik, we won't give up! So whatever screwball scheme you came up with this time, it's not going to have a chance!" Sonic knows that he's completely bluffing, Robotnik's a genius, and his plans have never been easy to beat. But he's not at all trying to scare Robotnik, he's trying to _humiliate_ him, enough to the point where he will tell him how wrong Sonic actually is. And Sonic's counting on it.

"HA! How cute, but even I know that you are not _that_ arrogant. Can you not see that you are completely outmatched?!" Robotnik yells to the hedgehog, agitated by his cool attitude. _Of Course I see that, _Sonic thinks to himself, _but you don't know I do…_

"Open your eyes Egghead; as long as I got my family with me, your robots are just scrapheaps ready to be recycled!" Sonic says with a tasteful sense of brazenness.

"Your Family? Ha! I can crush you and your family with the snap of my finger, no, not even, with the drop of a hat! Your speed can't save you or your friends no, you insubordinate fool!" Robotnik yells in frustration.

_Gotcha… _"Ooooh, Oh no, I'm sooo scared! Big bad Buttnik's gonna destroy me!" Sonic taunts enthusiastically. Robotnik grits his teeth together and tries hard to hold composure, but before he could stop himself, he found himself explaining his plan to Sonic.

"Ha, you have no chance! Do you see the ground in between the beams? From the ground will raise a giant magnet that will collect a valuable resource hidden all throughout Mobius… Power Rings! With these rings, I can create an army with the power! But that's not all…" Sonic listens to Robotnik's plans in horror, but manages to keep the fear from his face; instead, he locks his face in a snarl of anger, but a bead of sweat drips down his face. "The rings will power an extremely powerful satellite, activating microchips that I had placed in the brains of all the roboticized Mobians; and when I give the signal, my slaves will descend on Mobius, destroying all those who oppose them! And the general of their army will be none other than my strongest soldier, Knuckles!" Robotnik laughs haughtily and Sonic leers at the insane villain, but on the inside, he is both filled with terror and accomplishment. _Well, I know his plan now, but now all we got to do is get of this island. I'd hate to leave Knuckles behind, but it looks like I got no choice!_

To break Sonic's train of thought is the Doctor's voice booming through the lot.

"Swatbots! Knuckles! Advance on the Hedgehogs! Make sure that they do not escape this time!"

**Robotnik is on the offensive!Yet Sonic is determined to see their victory! Will Sonic and Sonia make it out intact, or will they be roboticized like their beloved companion? Find out next time...**


	5. Chapter 5: Takes Two to Tango

**Remember, all reviews are accepted with thanks from the author. Anyway...**

**Robotnik has revealed his plans, and has just sicked his robots on Sonia and Sonic! Will they make it out unscathed? Or will they meet with a horrible fate? And was their reunion with their mom premature, or is it truly the Promised Time? Furthermore, how will Sonic find the will to hurt Knuckles, one of his best friends? Keep reading to find out in... the Sonic Underground Finale!**

"Shoot!" Sonic yells as the robots rush in for them. Robotnik takes off, confident that his robots can handle the two siblings. Sonia and Sonic each split up and decide to take on different sides; Sonia will go for left, Sonic will go for the right. Each of them activates their royal medallions and gets to work on the robots immediately, but there is one problem, Knuckles is charging after Sonic, and he is not backing down. Knuckles roars ferociously, bee lining for the true blue spike ball himself. Sonic attempts to completely ignore Knuckles and concentrate on the other robots first, but Knuckles will have no part of that. Everywhere Sonic went, Knuckles followed close behind with a barrage of swipes with his harsh metal claws. Sonic realizes he can't destroy any of the robots until he takes care of Knuckles first, but how is he going to do that without hurting him?

Sonic leaps high up into the air and tucks in his legs, spin dashing into a nearby hovercraft and bouncing to a far end of the lot. Skidding to ha halt, he kneels low to the floor to notice that Knuckles is attempting to run after him, but in addition to his already questionable speed, the metal implanted in his body is weighing him down. Sonic has discovered his weakness, he's too slow! Sonic stands up straight and relaxes all his muscles, and he loosely smiles toward Knuckles' direction. He extends his index finger and points it directly toward knuckles and cocks an eyebrow. With an all too familiar cocky look on his face, he smugly taunts the Robian, knowing deep down that Knuckles can't really hear him anyway.

"Catch me if you can!" Sonic sprints off into Knuckles' direction and Knuckles plants his feet on the ground firmly, readying for the impact of the hedgehog; only it never came. Inches from Knuckles, Sonic stops abruptly and waves a condescending finger in Knuckles face. For a split second, Sonic swears he sees Knuckles confused, knowing that under all that permanent armor, Knuckles is down there somewhere, he _has _to be. But this was all in a split second; it took one second for Knuckles to make an unsuccessful swipe for Sonic's face.

Even from close range, Sonic's speed comes into play. He dodges right, dodges left, ducks, jumps, and ducks, dodges right and flips over backwards, all in an attempt to maneuver around Knuckles' would-be devastating blows. His face is straight and focused, before each swing and after each swing; he anticipates Knuckles' attacks by observing his movements. The _real_ Knuckles would never be this sloppy when on the offensive, but the real Knuckles isn't here…what holds his place is a minion to Robotnik, with none of the battle strategy intact. But even so, Sonic knows that if Knuckles keeps attacking so relentlessly that he's going to hurt himself; he needs to find a way to stall him.

Meanwhile, Sonia is busying herself with the Swatbots; even though Sonic would destroy them like they were good china, Sonia has extreme difficulty all on her own with no one to cover her. But even so, her agility and martial arts skills prove to be extremely useful, as well as her signature whirlwind-spin. From her left, five Swatbots are closing in, two Swatbots are atop a hovercraft shooting from above, and six more Swatbots are coming from the back and the right. Sonia starts running toward the right and she presses her keyboard against her chest. She bounds on the head of the head Swatbot and bounces to the hovercraft with the two others. She somersaults in the air and gracefully lands on top of the vehicle to find that the Swatbots are aiming for her. One of the shots grazes her arm, but with a steady mind, she ignores the cut and dodges the other blasts. With a well-placed whirlwind spin, she squeezes herself between the Swatbots and launches them both off the craft in a matter of second. With no Swatbots shooting at her from above, her job has gotten easier, but is still difficult to say the least. She unanimously decides that she does not have enough firepower to take on the whole armada, so instead she focuses her attention on redirecting the already pathetic aim of the Swatbots to her favor.

At the time, Sonic is leading the rambunctious red killing machine towards scores of foes, but Sonic realizes that Robotnik had programmed him to avoid destroying other robots, and Sonic's attempts at turning him into a bulldozer are pointless. But Sonic decides that there is a way to stop him, by turning his programming against him. Sonic spin-dashes into three hovercrafts and knocks them into a pile on the floor. With Knuckles trailing close behind, he ramps up his speed and stops near one of the barriers at the edge of the land.

From the top of the hovercraft, Sonia uses her signature whirlwind spin to turn her simple keyboard laser into a tornado of destruction, damaging all in her path. She manages to destroy three Swatbots in the brazen attack, but unfortunately, the surge in power drains the necklace of its energy and it reverts back into a regular medallion. But the steadfast Sonia remains unwavering; with eight robots left to go, Sonia switches her tactics to the strategy she thought up before.

Sonia taunts a robot from close range, when it lurches over to grab her, Sonia scurries up its side and grabs onto its back. Just as she expected, Robotnik's other less-than-competent robots aim and fire. Sonia releases from the robot and hurriedly dashes out of the line of fire, hearing the all-too-familiar ringing of energy blasts hitting metal resonating from behind her. _7 more to go… _Sonia springs up onto the top of one of the Swatbots and steps on its head. She then runs on top of the heads of the Swatbots, provoking them to raise their guns at her. Right after the first shot is fired, Sonia swiftly falls to the floor. The Swatbots, disregarding the last one she bounced on, all chase after her with their guns blasting. Unfortunately for them, the robots are all in a group, and when the outer four Swatbots fire to hit Sonia, they end up tearing through the unfortunate three others in the middle.

Attempting to avoid the bullets, Sonia tries to use the hulls of the Swatbots as a shield. Sonia feels a sharp pain in her side, but she ignores it, she still has work to do. With four more Swatbots to go, Sonia can't help but wonder…_Sonic, Where are you? I need help…_

With Knuckles ferociously barreling toward him, Sonic appears to brace for the impact of the rampaging Robian. However, at the ten foot mark, Knuckles leaps from the floor and pounces at Sonic, but Sonic performs his daring strategy. Sonic runs forward and dips the upper half of his body under the airborne echidna, and appears behind him. With an explosive KICK! Sonic's foot collides with the back of Knuckles' head and he is sent rocketing toward the barrier.

With no hope of stopping, the roboticized Mobian braces himself before he is hit with the head-spinning jolts caused by the barrier. Knuckles ricochets off the barrier and Sonic dives to get out of the way of the sparking echidna. Knuckles slams into the pile of the three hovercrafts that Sonic had destroyed previously. For a minute, Knuckles goes limp with exhaustion and slumps down onto the pile; Sonic rushes swiftly around the hovercrafts and kicks up scattered pieces of metal into the air. With some fancy handiwork, the metal is crafted into a makeshift cage to contain Sonic's disoriented friend. Sonic comically dusts of his hands and puts his wrists on his hips as he marvels at his handiwork.

"Well, I think that'll do just fine!" Knuckles shakes his head rapidly and turns his gaze to the blue hedgehog. Knuckles backs up and prepares to ram into him, but right before he crashes into the bits and pieces of the hovercrafts, Knuckles stops abruptly. His programming will not allow him to destroy Robotnik's machines, even the broken ones, leaving Knuckles trapped inside the field of immobile metal. He growls at Sonic and goes on all fours, arching his back like an angry animal and leering at him with his unrecognizable grid-like eyes. Sonic truly feels piteous for him, Robotnik's making him act like this after all; but even so, the best way to keep him safe is to trap him.

"Sorry bud, but I got to help my sis!" Sonic dashes off into the direction of Sonia and is surprised to see how far she has progressed.

Sonia has just leapt up into the air and kicked one of the remaining bots in the head, crushing its metaphorical skull to bits. Then, she kicks it over onto another Swatbot, disabling both of them. Two other robots prepare to grab her, but before they could lay their hands on her, Sonic furiously spin-dashes into their robotic hulls, taking them out.

"Hmp! It's about time!" Sonia yells to Sonic.

"Hey come on, it's not my fault, I had to stop your boyfriend!" Sonic yells back.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Sonia flicks the hair from her face and crosses her arms, quickly flinching when the pain returns to her side; but she dare not show weakness, not yet. "Where's Robotnik?"

"He took off; and I think we should do the same." Sonic says, gaining a nod of approval from Sonia. But before they knew it, a whole new arsenal of baddies was flying toward them. But unbeknownst to the baddies, the Sonic Underground has backup of their own. Sonia's ear twitches and she turns over to the horizon on the East. When Sonic turns, he faintly catches small, but very numerous shadows flying toward the area.

"Heh," Sonic says with a spry smile, "bout' time."

When Sonia cupped her hand over her mouth when Robotnik appeared, she actually used her communication watch to signal Manic to send in the reinforcements, and it looks like they have arrived just in the nick of time.

"I knew you wouldn't disappoint little bro!" Sonic yells to the sky as if Manic could hear him. The shadows are actually small saucer-like robots designed for interfering with any technology they happen to come into contact with. From the interior of the stealth boat, Manic whispers a snarky comment to a non-present Sonic and Sonia.

"Ha, bet you guys forgot about me; well hang on dudes, cause' these suckers are going to make your job a whole lot easier!" As Manic moved the joystick toward the location of his siblings, Cyrus asks him a completely innocent question.

"Who are you talking to?" Cyrus asks. Manic's pupils dilate and a bead of sweat drips down from his forehead; the question catches him by surprise.

"Uhh…yoouu…?" Manic says cautiously, causing Cyrus to raise a skeptical eyebrow. But nonetheless, he returns to the controls of the boat.

"Whatever." Mutters Cyrus. Manic breathes a silent sigh of relief and promises himself that he's not going to talk to himself like that again, it was weird.

In less than a minute, the saucers have swooped down and implanted themselves into the technology in the area. Some of them short-circuited the Swatbots while others made for the edges of the barrier. With a clearly audible JJZZZIICCHHHKK the barrier fizzles out and leaves the thick Floating Island forest available for their swift escape. Without a second to lose, Sonic sweeps Sonia off of her feet and makes a beeline for the edge of the island. Moving with a swift determination, Sonic avoids tree branches and stupidly placed rocks with ease, while at the same time, carrying his not-so-swift sister in his arms. Even though he was running from the authorities, Sonic could not help but feel his muzzle dawn an excited smile as the thrill of the speed coursed through his veins. Sonia let Sonic live through this excitement without nagging him about it, besides, she is starting to feel…woozy…

At the edge of the Island, Sonic set Sonia down and they both extracted their hovercrafts from their item belts. The Swatbots are mostly all gone; they must have been called to deal with the threat of Sonia and Sonic when they were still in the middle of the island. With a click of the button, they activate their vehicles. They quickly mount them and descend as fast as they can toward the stealth boat, whose position is thankfully uncompromised. Sonia and Sonic immediately see the familiar faces of their brother and Cyrus as they neared the boat.

Manic waves them in, and as soon as Sonia and Sonic touch down, Cyrus punches the gas, sending them rocketing forward into the night. As the two spies try to steady their spinning heads, they are bombarded by questions by their highly interested younger brother. Manic is wide–eyed with both shock and curiosity, as opposed to the somewhat peeved Cyrus, who was hoping for a flawless success. Guess that it was too much to ask for.

"Well," Manic probes, "what happened, did you find anything out?" Sonic is the first of the two siblings to regain his composure, and he gives Manic a cryptic answer.

"Well, we know what he's doing," Sonic says, "and hoo boy… is it a doozy." Next to Sonic, Sonia starts coughing loudly and Sonic assumes that she's just trying to catch her breath. However, Manic is concerned and scoots closer to her.

"Sonia, are you oka…" Sonia collapses and Manic just manages to catch her and bring her down slowly before roughly hitting the ground. Sonia whimpers lightly when Manic grabs her side, and he swiftly retractes his arm and lays her down on the floor of the boat. Cyrus whips his head around and frantically asks what happened, but Manic and Sonic are too stunned to answer.

"Sonia!" Manic and Sonic yell simultaneously. Sonia is conscious, and obviously in quite a bit of pain. When Sonic reaches forward to hold Sonia, that's when he notices that her back is all scratched up, she must have gotten hit with something when they were fighting the Swatbots.

"Step on it Cyrus!" Sonic yells. And just like that, their speed doubles as the island disappears from sight and the sun can be seen faintly over the horizon.


	6. Chapter 6: Turning Tides

**Last time, The Sonic Underground had infiltrated the Floating island in hopes of discovering Robotnik's diabolical plans; but when they got discovered, they were attacked by Robotnik and his metal goons, one of them their dear friend Knuckles. They escape frantically in their high speed boat, away from the Floating Island and toward the mainland, in hopes of getting help for Sonia's mysteriously onset ailment. Will they be able to help her, or will she end up another victim of Robotnik's totalitarian rule? And what other trials and tribulations are in store for our spine-studded heroes? **

**Enjoy this exciting installment of...the Sonic Underground Finale!**

It is morning now, and in the same safe house as they were in before, Sonia is lying on a makeshift bed with a large bandage wrapped around her side. Manic walks into the room with a bowl of soup in his hands and Aleena gently strokes Sonia's hair, waiting patiently for her to wake up. Slowly, Sonia blinks herself awake, and although she winches a little, she is otherwise unhurt.

"What happened?" Sonia asks, rubbing her head. Sonic comes from behind the laptop and answers.

"One of Buttnik's Swatbots must've hit you when you were fighting them sis'…Man, if I wasn't busy fighting Knux, I would've helped you out there; honest!" Sonia looks at her brother, he honestly feels remorse, but Sonia knows that he only had the best interests at heart, and that was good enough for her. Still though, she assures Sonic that what he did was the right thing to do.

"Sonic, I'm just a little sore now." Content with this answer as the perfect moment to chime in, Cyrus informs Sonia of what went on while she was resting.

"Speaking of that, Sonic told me all about Dr. Robotnik's plan; and from the looks of things, I don't think he's lying. That would explain why all of the roboticized citizens are disappearing, and why all that jewelry is gone too."

"Oh yeah," Manic says, "Robotnik needs the people to be in his army, and the magnet has to be accidentally taking all the jewelry when it's collecting the rings."

"Precisely" Cyrus says, pointing a verifying finger toward Manic. He lowers his hand and continues his hypothesis. "But now that we know that, we have deducted a plan to stop Robotnik once and for all…We're going to de-roboticize everyone." At these works, Sonia jerks up and startles Aleena back. Sonia cannot believe her ears, can something like this even be possible?

"And before you object," Cyrus continues, "We're going to take a lot of steps to ensure that this plan works, so bear with me here." Cyrus sits down with his legs crisscross on the rug in the center of the room; Sonic, Manic, and Aleena cluster around him as he explains the plan. Sonia stays on the bed.

"We are going to set up mini-satellites throughout the city on the tops of the highest buildings; once all of the citizens are in the city, we will activate the satellites which will emit the same frequencies as a de-roboticizer, turning the _city itself_ into its own de-roboticizer." Cyrus looks to see Sonia's skeptical face as she voices her concerns.

"Cyrus, will this plan even work? I mean, what if Robotnik catches us and tries to retreat?" Cyrus gives Sonia a sly smile and waves his finger.

"Ah HA, you didn't let me finish…" Cyrus clears his throat and Sonia indignantly listens to the rest of what Cyrus has to say. "Meanwhile, we need someone to go in from the outside and work undercover to throw Robotnik off our tails if it comes to that, that's where my usefulness comes in." Sonia immediately objects, Cyrus may not be her best friend, but she still cares about his well-being.

"You can't Cyrus! We can't lose you too!"

"I have to do it Sonia, losing me wouldn't be as bad as losing you or one of your brothers." Before Sonia can object again, he says how he's going to do it. "I am going to have Trevor install an override chip onto the base of my skull, so when I get myself roboticized, I will still have my own free will. From there, I have to do as much as I can to throw Robotnik off." Everyone is shaken by his words, the plan is so risky, and even Sonic, who's hearing it for the second time, is clenching his hand into the carpet. But Sonic knows better than anyone that Cyrus is not going to change his mind, he's been tricked by Robotnik before, and now it's his turn to return the favor. With that said, a small silence catches the room for a couple seconds before he continues with his plan.

Cyrus clears his throat and speaks up. "Anyway, I addition to me being there, the chip my brain will transmit anything that I happen to hear directly to the database. And we also have another duty to the island; we have to de-roboticize it as well." This causes Sonia's ears to perk up, but she doesn't speak up, she knows that Cyrus will explain himself.

"Knuckles is a very valuable ally, he can help us, but we know that his island comes first to him. So before we de-roboticize him, we need to restore his island and the animals, only then can we negotiate an alliance." In a sort of unspoken agreement, Sonic, Sonia, and Manic all knew the _real_ reason for Cyrus's actions, he must know something that he's not telling them; a move on the Floating Island is pointless, and Knuckles doesn't have that many supplies. Saving him, as much as they would hate to admit it, is just not that important in this situation. But despite their shared suspicion, nobody speaks up.

"And we have one more problem, and this one is big." Cyrus says. "We are going to need a very large source of energy to power all of the satellites throughout the city, and I don't know how we're going to manage that." He stands up and brings over his laptop to the group. Using holographic software, he projects a cyan image of Robotropolis into the room; after inputting a few commands into the keyboard, twenty-five small red dots appeared in specific locations on the 3-D map.

"We need enough power to work twenty five dishes, and we need to have the frequencies reach a very far distance. Even if I re-routed half the power from the entire city, it still wouldn't be enough to power the devices for the amount of time we need. I'm at a loss here. All the power would be extremely conspicuous, but I don't know what else to do." A silence comes over the room as Cyrus racks his brain to think of the best possible course of action. Sonic and Sonia are trying to decide what they need to do… Taking too much power from the city will cause Robotnik to shut off all electricity, and their plan would be a bust; but not taking enough power could leave too many citizens roboticized, and Robotnik would still be able to commence his strategy. And from the most silent of the siblings, a brilliant and crazy idea comes to his mind.

"What if we don't use ANY power from the city?" Manic says. He gains quizzical looks from his friends and family, and Sonic even dares to venture into his creatively crafty mind.

"Have you lost it bro? In case you haven't noticed, you can't just _make_ energy." Manic stands up and crosses his arms. He paces the room and as he does so, he lays out his plan.

"Right, _we _can't make energy…" Manic points a finger up toward the ceiling and smiles slyly. "But do we recall the Floating Island?" Confused, everyone is stumped, wondering what clever (or insane) plan their fellow freedom fighter has in store for them. After Manic is satisfied with the length of the pause, he continues his contemplating.

"Well, as _I_ recall, what makes heavy things float, turns buffoons into monsters, and has the power to rip a continent to crumbles?" Manic lowers his eyelids, and with a tight-lipped smile, lets Sonic answer the question.

"The CHAOS EMERALDS?!" Sonic yells, springing up to his feet. Manic whirls around and points directly to Sonic, his smile now flashing wide across his muzzle, eyes bright with excitement.

"Exactly! And the one on the Floating Island might be off limits, but as we recall, that's not the only one, now is it?" Manic says, composing his words with the movement of his finger.

"Right!" Sonia blurts out. She too jumps to her feet, the full impact of Manic's words hitting her. "Robotnik had one to power his Flying Fortress!"

Sonic chuckles a little and chimes in with a small quip. "Looked more like a giant metal egg of death to me;" Sonic says, "but if that one little rock was able to lift it, then we won't even need the city's power!"

"Ha HA! Now you guys are catching my drift." Manic stands tall and confident, spilling his idea out to the band of Freedom Fighters. "And what's to say that there are only TWO emeralds? Why not three, or even four? Heck, all it would take is one, but I guarantee that the more we have, the closer Robotnik is to defeat!" Cyrus lets the words sink in, but then he breaks in with his skepticism.

"Hold on, you guys are going too fast for me; how are guys even going to find them? That's to say, if there _are_ actually more of them." Cyrus says. Aleena then bounces up with her contribution to the discussion.

"Our medallions!" Sonic, Sonia and Manic all swerve around to meet her glance, forgetting that she was with them the whole time. "Our medallions are connected to one another, this allows us to drift toward each other in times of need; but that's not all, the medallion's unique powers were given to them by the chaos energy. And even though the medallions don't have enough power to work the satellites, I think if we trace their ties to the chaos force, we can consequently find the emeralds!" With this said; the last of the team stands up in excitement.

"That's brilliant!" Cyrus exclaims to Queen Aleena. He turns over to the siblings with an excited smile on his face, this crazy plan might actually work.

"Manic, you're a genius! This plan might actually work after all!" With that, each of them separate to do their own things. Manic follows Cyrus to the computer, where they send an encrypted message to Trevor asking his to come over and work with them. Queen Aleena dotes over Sonia; the excitement of the discussion had suddenly made her very tired. And Sonic does the one thing that was forgotten. Everyone briefly turns his way as he walks out the door, taking with him a cloak; they all wonder: _what that's all about?_ He walks outside of the safe house in a long cloak, he usually wouldn't wear it, but he's being extremely careful now that this plan has come into the view. In addition to his carefulness, he walks rather than runs, and he keeps to the shadows of the crowded walkways. The mere thought of Robotnik's overthrow makes his fingers tingle in excitement, and he tries hard to keep his smile from creeping out other people as he walks on by. He stops at a small dilapidated building and puts the Mobiums on the counter; the man at the counter picks up the money and asks the hedgehog what his purpose for being there is for. And with a young smile, he happily tells the portly man at the counter his purpose for being there.

"Can I have two chili-dogs please? Extra chili, extra spicy; and with cheese!" the man at the counter smiles a big toothy grin and turns around. In less than a minute, the chili dogs are prepared, and Sonic takes gratefully them from the vendor's hands.

"Pleasure doing business with you." The man says with a smile.

"The pleasure's mine sir!" Sonic responds. He walks off with the two food items in his hands and makes off down a dark alleyway. He juggles his chili dog in his hands, and he contemplates the many thoughts racing through his mind faster than, well, him. With Knuckles, his mom, the animals, the Mobians, Robotnik, and his siblings to think about, Sonic doesn't have in room in his head for himself. But even so, he loves to help others, and he knows that one day, his life will be free for himself, free to make new friends, free to relax in peace, free to be him. Sonic sighs and is about to put his chili dog in his mouth until he sees a small child on the side of the street.

He is a small white hedgehog; about age six. He wears worn red shoes and a faded blue vest. He is really skinny and he has a small brown hat in front of him and a sign in poorly spelled letters: NED MONI 4 FUD. What would you do? Sonic looks at the kid for a minute, and he is reminded of how fortunate he actually is. Sonic has a family, friends, enough food, and he even has a purpose, he is needed. The kid is too young to be needed for anything, and of course, he is probably too young to even know about the resistance. With that feeling in mind, the feeling of being needed, Sonic realizes that in that moment another person needs him.

He steps in front of the kid and puts the chili dog in his hands. Just as the little kid looks up, Sonic turns and walks away. From behind, he hears the little white hedgehog call out to him from behind.

"Thank you Mister!" says the little boy. Helping someone is always a welcome feeling; and Sonic never gets tired of it. But even so, Sonic still hopes that one day he can have time to himself; even if he does have to be prince, and king one day. Sonic still has not lost the thought of traveling around the world, going on wondrous adventures, meeting new people, and having a blast; maybe one day, it might just happen.

Sonic walks back into the safe house. Sonia is asleep and Aleena was following closely before Sonic opened the door. Sonic shook her shoulder and Aleena greeted him.

"Hello Sonic, where did you go anyway?" In response, Sonic brought out the chili dog he hid behind his back and Aleena's eyes lit up in excitement. He gave it to her and she reached out, taking a big bite from the chili-drenched hot dog.

"Fulfilling your second request." Sonic says with a smile. Aleena gratefully thanks him and Sonic laughs at the fact that his mom likes chili dogs just like he does. Before meeting her, Sonic thought that she was going to be stuck up like an aristocrat, but that was before; he's pleased to see that she's actually really cool. Like a true freedom fighter at heart.

"Sonic!" Manic calls from behind the laptop. Sonic rushes over and greets Cyrus and Manic, who were all looking over a three dimensional map of all of the regions that they have been to so far; deserts, oceans, forests, and jungles galore. Next to the laptop was a glass tube that has a hole in one of the sides. There are metal plates on each side and wires connecting to the laptop; it looks like some sort of confounded contraption, nothing new to Sonic.

"What's up bro?" Sonic says with confidence. Manic takes off his medallion and puts it into the crazy device. "I'm going to need to take your medallion; we are going to analyze the energy signatures." Sonic defensively grabs his medallion and hides it with his big gloved hand. Manic knows why, Sonic is a little shocked by the request, especially because of the nonchalant way he put it. Manic tries to backtrack by rewording it.

"Cyrus and I need to analyze the energy from all of the medallions, mine and Sonia's included. Don't worry, it's only going to take a minute, and then we'll give it back." Manic says. A little more reassured, Sonic nods and slowly takes the medallion off of his neck. He then walks over to Sonia and carefully takes the amulet off of her neck. With both of the necklaces in tow, he walks over to the machine and them next to Manic's. Manic closes the hole with another small piece of glass and inputs a seemingly random sequence of button pushes into the keyboard. The screen loads up three aditionall screens, and Cyrus takes over control of the laptop. To Sonic, it just looks like a bunch of random garble and then something happens, but to Manic and Cyrus, it is a very intricate process that takes some serious intelligence and concentration.

A loading screen pops up and Cyrus lowers it, bringing up the 3-D world map once again. Then he separates each of the separate locations on the map with individual pages, and red flashes appear on some of the screens. Cyrus closes out of the complete world map and all of the locations with no red marks in them. Besides the one on the Floating Island, there are seven in total.

All three of the boys yell simultaneously. "SEVEN?!"

**Seven Emeralds to find, Eight emeralds in total! With this new information, Sonic and his family are dumfounded. They now have a huge advantage against Robotnik; but will they be able to utilize this tremendous raw power? What are they to do? And if they choose to locate the emeralds, what means will they use to control them? Find out next time...**


	7. Chapter 7: Shades of Chaos

In the band van, Sonic, Sonia, Manic, and Aleena are all heading towards to residence of Athair, Knuckles' grandfather. Lighting, rain, and thunder shower down from the heavens as the band kicks up mini waves along the path as Manic drives on, cautious of the hazardous conditions. Aleena is keeping her balance along the bumpy road by leaning on Manic's seat. Tensions are high in the van…After figuring out the existence of eight chaos emeralds, Sonia had immediately suggested going to the home of Athair, who knows more about emeralds than anyone else on the planet. As Sonic, Manic, and Aleena prepared to leave, Sonia climbed out of her bed and demanded to come along, despite her injuries. But of course, when Sonia puts her mind to something, it's not changed easily; no, scratch that, it's not changed period. With the queen by their side, Athair would know how severe the situation is, without needing a long-winded explanation from the Royal family. But even so, convincing the highly traditional Athair to help them is another task altogether. Hopefully the "Promised Time" destiny is enough to convince him.

They hit a large pothole and Aleena nearly tumbles onto the floor. From the beginning, she was a little on edge, and the siblings assumed that it was to do with the confusion and chaotic way she had to meet her them. But unless you were in Aleena's perspective, it would be hard to understand.

Aleena clenches her hands into her new cloak, given to her by Sonia, and is extremely tense_. My thirteen year old son is driving a van into a winding and dangerous road up a lightning riddled mountain… Ok, calm down Aleena, Oh! But how can I calm down… he was raised by thieves, he's a wanted criminal… Oh, and his beautiful ear; it has two piercings on it, TWO! _Aleena sighs and Manic turns to meet her gaze.

"Something wrong mom?" Manic says, Aleena tries hard not to panic.

"Nothing, eyes on the road sweetie…." Manic smiles at her and turns his attention back on the road; upon seeing his smile, Aleena relaxes her grip a little from her cloak and looks to her children. _His heart is in the right place, and he knows what he's doing; I shouldn't underestimate him, any of them, they are my children after all… _Aleena looks down at her children and smiles lightly upon seeing their faces. _Ah… But I wouldn't have them any other way; they are perfect the way they are. And I love them so much._

Her mind wanders to when she first had to give up her children; it was the most difficult decision of her life. Give up her children, or risk their lives, no mother should ever have to make that decision, but Aleena had to, and it pained her to do so. Before leaving, she gave each of her precious little babies a kiss goodbye, knowing all the while that the next time they reunited, all of their lives would be in danger. And now, they are so grown, they have their own lives, personalities, but Aleena still sees them as her dear children, and they still look to her like their mother.

With Robotnik initiating his plans, they must work together to defeat him. Though saddened by the circumstances in which they had to reunite, she cannot shake the feelings of pure adoration she experiences when looking to the children she loves so dearly.

And in all honesty, though frightened by the thought of Robotnik's armies, she is somewhat thrilled by the promise of action and adventure. Just as her other kids feel excitement, she does as well. I guess some things heredity just can't get rid of.

Aleena's train of thought is halted when the van jerks to a stop in front of a large staircase leading to the top of the mountain. They all look up to the intimidating height and a lightning bolt illuminating the starless night sky further adds to their fear, yet it also reinforces the importance of reaching the man at the top; Knuckles' grandfather, Athair.

Halfway up the mountain, their yellow coats and umbrellas flutter wildly in the wind. Aleena insisted that they wear them before heading out, or they might catch a_ cold_ of all things, _such_ a mom. With Sonia taking the lead, she makes sure that the path is safe for Manic, Aleena, and finally Sonic to follow. A huge gust of wind suddenly bursts from nowhere and blows Manic's umbrella into the distance; he looks disappointedly at the disappearing umbrella until Aleena hands him hers.

"I can't take your umbrella mom, you'll get all wet." Manic says in resistance. But Aleena will have none of that. She opens up his hands and puts the umbrella inside them, then closes his hand tight.

"I'm fine son, you just hold onto this one tight, okay?" Aleena says sweetly. Manic looks at her for a second before agreeing, and they continue up the mountain into the lightning filled night; lightning crackles and shoots from the sky, and Aleena is shaking, both from the cold and from fright. Sonic cuddles up close to her and raises his umbrella above both of them. Aleena hugs him back, and Sonic looks her and smiles shyly.

After a while, they reach Athair's cave and they all hurriedly dash inside. Sonic and Manic take off their coats and shake rapidly to get rid of any of the water that got on their bodies. To Sonia and Aleena's dismay, it was a lot; they look condescendingly at the two boys and they give awkward smile of apology. Aleena takes off her coat and starts to ring it out while Sonia attempts to fix her hair; shortly after, Aleena also fixes her hair and puts her cloak, though still a little wet, back on. Their little dry-off session was interrupted when Athair came out from another portion of the cave, greeting his royal visitors with a slight joking in his voice.

"Ahh, the royal siblings once again, please tell me that this does not have to do with _another_ broken emerald."

"Another?" Aleena says. Athair looks at her with familiarity on his face, but does not yet recognize her as the Queen of Mobotropolis.

"And who might you be, young lady?" Athair says, prompting both a giggle from Queen Aleena and awkward glances from her kids. Aleena removes her hood and introduces herself confidently.

"Why, my name is Queen Aleena, have you heard of me? And these are my three children, Sonic, Sonia, and Manic." Athair's face immediately changes from lightheartedness to seriousness, and he starts speaking to himself the legend.

"Triplets born, the throne awaits,

A spirit warns of a deadly fate,

To give up her children, separate,

To bide her time, lie in wait.

The children will grow,

Learn what is right.

Leaders of the Freedom fight.

They will know,

When the time has come,

For when it does,

The road will be riddled with love and fear,

The paths leading shed not a single tear,

The shades of Chaos will shine bright,

For both the Path of Evil,

And the Path of Light.

I never would have imagined that the Promised day would be upon us so soon, and I assume that's why you have all come to my mountain; you are seeking aid for your arduous endeavor."

"Yes Great Athair," Sonia says, "We need to ask you about the Chaos Emeralds…"

"The Chaos Emeralds are ancient artifacts of immense power, and there are eight in existence, among the only people who can utilize their power to the fullest are the Echidnae people, as far as I know." Athair says.

"Yes, but we could really use your help," Manic says, "we need to use the power of a Chaos Emerald to defeat Robotnik, but we also want to be aware of any…complications…that may arise if we try. Please Athair; you are the only one who can help us." Athair takes in the young prince's words carefully; he is both torn by the desire to protect his fellow Mobians, and also the desire to keep the traditions of his people. But what really stops him is the last thing that Manic said.

"Wait," Athair says slowly, "What do you mean, the _only_ one? My grandson is an echidna just like me, why can he not help?" Manic is overcome with fer, he desperately wishes to himself that he can backtrack his words, but what's done is done, and they now have to come clean.

"Well," Athair asks, a little more urgent now," Where is my grandson? Is he not on the Island?"

Sonia finally can't hold it in any longer, she concealed it before, but in the presence of Knuckles' only family, how worried he is, the true weight of Knuckles situation came back to her like a painful boomerang. She runs into Athair and hugs him tightly, with tears pouring down her face.

"Athair! I-I'm so sorry! *sniff* H-He was such a good guy…He helped us fight Robotnik many times before. *sniff* A t-true friend to the Royal family… And a proud advocate of the Echidnae race…" Athair held Sonia comfortingly, and he tries to hold back his own tears as he braces for the worst. "He was kidnapped by Robotnik! He's b-been Roboticized!"

As Sonia cries into Athair's chest, Sonic and Manic feel a deep sadness for their sister, and for Knuckles. If their plan works, he will not be a robot anymore, but at the moment, it didn't matter. For now, their friend was a mindless slave, and it saddens them to think of such a thing. Aleena feels powerless to help her, but she decides that she should not cry, if her children are going to look up to her, she has to stand tall in the face of adversity. Sonia's crying is interrupted by Manic's words.

"Athair! That's what we need the chaos emeralds for! If we can get their power, we can power satellites all over the city and de-roboticize everyone, including Knuckles!" The mention of his grandson's name brings a pang to his heart, but he keeps his mind from falling victim to his emotions to consider Manic's words. With the world at stake, Athair speaks; and what he says is unbelievable, and not in a good way.

"Your question; it was as to whether or not the chaos emeralds can be used for powering the electronics, correct?" Athair asks, getting a nod from Manic. "The answer is complicated; yes, the emeralds have the potential of powering an entire city, but it is unable to."

"How can that be Great Athair?" Aleena asks uneasily. Still hugging Sonia, Athair gives his explanation as kindhearted as possible, but an unsettling air of hopelessness flavors his voice.

"The emeralds can give concentrated energy, but not only is the energy unstable, but dispersing it over long distances would take technology that not even Robotnik has. And in addition, having more than one emerald in the same vicinity could have catastrophic results. However, there is hope. But it comes with numerous implications." Athair lets go of Sonia and walks over to a bench, he sits down and starts brewing a kettle of tea over a fire. He motions everyone to gather around and they all do so, grateful for the warmth the fire provides.

"There is but one technique that can help. An ancient method designed by our ancestors to purify the energy of the Chaos Emeralds into a source more mobile, efficient, and concentrated. These new emeralds could definitely power your city, but it would assign one Emerald the task of being the controller for all of the others, the "Master Emerald" if you would. And that is not all it would do. Normally, possessing all seven would make the user mad with uncontrollable rage and power, leaving nothing but chaos and destruction in his wake." The Royal family looks on nervously, as the fire's embers form figures in the air, illustrating the tale as it is said.

"But paired with the purification technique, the emeralds can be used to their fullest extent, and the user will remain in complete control of their actions. However, it is only a legend, and should only be tried as an absolute last resort. *SIGH* But… there are setbacks. To use this technique, you would need all eight of the emeralds, and it has to take place in the Emerald shrine, a hidden location in the center of the Island, underground." The Royal Family cannot believe what they are hearing, how are they going to pull this off with Robotnik inhabiting the Island? But they have not lost hope yet.

"Alright!" Sonic says proudly, "Teach me how to do it, I'll use the technique!" Athair smiles a little and pours himself a cup of tea. The steam billows up into the air and disperses the animated embers.

"I admire your enthusiasm young prince, but I'm afraid it will not be that easy." He stares into his cup of tea with a determined look in his eye. "Only a being of Echidnae blood can perform the ritual, and I'm sorry, but I'm too old; my adventuring days ended long ago, these creaky bones can't handle the excitement." He sips his cup of tea deeply and sighs. He looks up at the three young ones and their mother, who are all coming to the same horrifying realization. If they want to stop Robotnik and save the roboticized citizens, they need to have **_Knuckles_**, who is under the control of Robotnik, perform the ritual to power the deroboticization satellites!

"By the looks on your faces, I can see that you all realize what needs to be done." Athair says cryptically. Sonic jumps up and pounds his fist on his chest.

"It doesn't matter guys! When there's a will, there's a way!" Sonic reaches for both Sonia and Manic to stand up with him, and they do. "Remember when Robotnik used his Flying Fortress to try and destroy Mobius? We stopped that, didn't we? Or the time he used Cyrus as a spy to try and take us down? He wasn't able to! And you know why? It's because we never gave in, no matter what stood in our way! And I don't know about you guys, but just because we're a family now, I'm still not gonna let Buttnik get the best of us! Don't let chaos get you down!" Before Sonic was even finished, they all knew where this was heading; Sonic Underground style.

(Link to song here: watch?v=6fWbOIyUhCs)

Sonic Sonia and Manic each take out their instruments, and in a flurry of sparking magic, the medallions transform into beautiful instruments. Aleena looks to Athair and he lifts his hand up to her in patience; he then pours a cup of tea for her and she takes it gratefully. A huge flash of light comes from the cave to rival the lightning blasting outside followed by the beginnings of the song.

(Sing Along Folks!)

Oh YEAH!  
When things are going bad,  
don't be angry don't be sad;  
We'll find our strength in each other!  
If our world is upside-down,  
Keep our feet on the ground.  
Learn to rely on one another!  
We have to learn to fight!  
Learn to overcome!  
Resist with all our might!  
Learn to overcome!  
And we can make things right!  
If we learn to overco-ome!  
NA na na na na na!  
Na na na na na NA ah na ah na!  
We have to learn to fight!  
Learn to overcome!  
Resist with all our might!  
Learn to overcome!  
And we can make things right!  
If we learn to overco-ome!  
NA na na na na na!  
Na na na na na NA ah na ah na!  
Learn to overcome!

Once the song was over they received a round of applause from Aleena and Athair, who was far less enthusiastic than her queenly companion.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Queen Aleena cheered, making all three of the siblings blush a little.

"Mom, don't embarrass us in front of Athair…" Sonic says, rubbing the back of his head. Aleena giggles and sips the last of her tea, setting the cup on the plate and carefully onto the floor. She walks over to her children and smiles brightly.

"You're right Sonic; our Family has been through too much to give up to the clutches of Robotnik." The siblings all smile and turn to Sonic, who gives the team a thumbs-up. "Then let's do it to it!" He says with a big smile on his face.


	8. Chapter 8: Through the Eyes of a Cyborg

**Floating Island: Robotnik's Center of Operations; Outer Gate. 9:30 A.M.**

From outside the plant, a huge magnet is gathering the numerous and all powerful power rings hidden in the deep crusts of the planet. As the power rings are attracted, they are placed into large glass barrels and transported into the back door of the factory. The thousands of power rings are being drained placed in the cores of Robotnik's thousands of suits of armor. The power rings a mysterious occurrence, but that matters not to Robotnik, the only thing he knows is that they are a plentiful and powerful source of energy for his newly assembled army. Once the armor is assembled, it is given to the hundreds of roboticized Mobian citizens to be worn and fought in.

All of the roboticized citizens retrieved from Robotropolis were shipped to the power plant to amass Robotnik's ultimate goal of conquering the planet indefinitely. But those people don't care about that at all. Beneath the robotic locks the evil dictator placed on their minds, those poor citizens are screaming for help, wishing that somebody would come to liberate them from their own bodies; but even more, their wishing that they could have their homes, their families, and their peace back.

Right now, Robotnik is lavishing in pride with his newest victory, the successful capture of Cyrus, an essential element of the Sonic Underground. He walks to the edge of the plant less lot with Knuckles, his best bodyguard, at his side. At any other time, Knuckles would have tried kicking him out of town, but now that he's a robot, he's as loyal as a trained dog. Cyrus struggles in the arms of two Swatbots, kicking and shoving to try to get free, but to no avail; Robotnik recalls the mission in which he was captured, Sonic and his friends had him on the top of a plane, presumably the one that Robotnik had left on the edge of Robotropolis when he abducted Knuckles. They shot a large harpoon as to latch onto the Floating Island, but once it touched down Robotnik's robots began shooting at the stalled plane. Sonic pulled back and retreated, Cyrus already had slid down the rope and started running for the main base with an explosive device in his hand. He did not get far however, as he was captured and the explosive device was deactivated. Now as Robotnik walks to the troublesome freedom fighter, he makes no attempt to hide the malevolent smile from his face.

"Robotnik! You're never going to stop the Sonic Underground! And they'll come back for me, I know it!" Cyrus yells at the obese dictator.

"MUAHAHAHAA! That's what you think little cub, but they have already left you! And my Swatbots are pursuing them as we speak, you're out of luck and out of time. Knuckles!" Knuckles walks out from behind Robotnik's obtuse form and Cyrus can't help but clench his teeth as the brave warrior is held captive by his own altered mind.

"Take him to the roboticizer, I want to watch as this troublesome teenager is finally roboticized once and for all!" Robotnik says, barely keeping the excitement from his voice.

"As you command oh so great Dr. Robotnik." Knuckles says completely emotionless and bland. He constrains Cyrus by holding his arms behind his back; as much as he struggles, Cyrus cannot get free. As the freedom fighter is being walked to the roboticizer with Robotnik taking the lead, he could not help but feel frightened.

Robotnik holds his head high, putting energy into each of his heavily placed steps. _The smartest freedom fighter, another dear friend to the siblings, is about to become my servant… _Robotnik thought pompously. _Without him, the siblings are without a true brain to their plans, and they have no chance to defeat me. The prophecy will not come true after all, no matter what that insubordinate Oracle had to say about it. A new destiny is written by me. _Robotnik thought these things, but there was still a nagging sense of unrest in his mind as he could not put off the fact that the Queen had disappeared from him, and that Sonic and Sonia had escaped with his plan in their minds. As Robotnik plays his game of mental chess, Cyrus is playing his own kind of mind game.

He is slightly frightened at the thought of being roboticized, but he struggles and spits and screams as if the though terrified him deeply. Why is he more easygoing about it? Why, he remembers the chip that Trevor placed in his head; with the override command placed in the chip, Cyrus can still keep his own thoughts despite Robotnik's attempts to change them. Even so, Cyrus is troubled at the fact that his body has to horribly mutate into a machine to perform the plan, but he still insecurely clings onto the hope that Sonic and his family will pull through for him. And even though he's not as scared as he acts, his act has to be convincing so no suspicion is aroused. It's not that difficult.

When they reach the roboticizer, Knuckles throws in the young scientist at the snap of Robotnik's bloated fingers. Cyrus's feet are stuck to the bottom of the chamber by means of an automatic constraint, and as he tries to pull up his feet, he is struck with an all too real sense of dread and panic as the thought of the chip failing finally washed over him. But even so, he makes sure not to compromise his duty; the fates of everyone on Mobius may depend on it. As a final cry of fright, he pleads with Knuckles to try to bring back the person that once was.

"Knuckles Please! You might not know me, but we're allies Knuckles!" As the metal covering shielded his view from the outside, Cyrus erupts into a full blown frenzy; his fear is completely real. "Knuckles! Knuckles! Get me out of here! Don't you remember yourself?! You hate Robotnik! He destroyed your Island remember? Remember Sonic?! Manic?! What about **_Sonia!?_**" As the inside of the capsule glows a bright red, Cyrus's legs began painfully transforming into metallic limbs. He grits his teeth from the pain, and from the outside, Knuckles feels a pang in his chest. His uncompromising single-mindedness mind falters for a brief moment; a thought deep struggles to crawl from the confined abyss of his mind. _Why does that name feel so…familiar?_

Cyrus lets out a shriek of pain as his skull undergoes the transformation, and he stammers out a sentence through the pain.

"I'm sorry about what you went through…" His last word is choked out by the roboticization process digging deep into his vocal cords, making his voice stale and mechanic. A ringer goes off from the outside and Robotnik opens the chamber; standing there is the roboticized Cyrus. His torso and the lower parts of his arms and legs are a pale grey, everything else a darker grey. The palms of his hands and the soles of his feet are a bright orange. His head still held Cyrus's features, but snaking across his fur is a half helmet and eye covering that made his transformation apparent. Replacing his eye is a blue disk of glass with a red pupil staring straight forward. The seemingly hour-long silence is broken with Cyrus's transformed voice.

"I live to serve you Doctor Robotnik." Cyrus says in a dead and emotionless voice. Robotnik laughs maniacally and Cyrus utilizes his steel-hard willpower to hide the sly smile creeping across his yellow muzzle.

Knuckles leads Cyrus down the hallway leading to the laboratory and Cyrus follows doggedly; from the inside, he knows that Robotnik has limitless materials that have the potential to create machines capable of helping Mobiankind, but Cyrus has to stick to the mission at hand. He must not let whatever is behind those doors stray him from his goal of putting a stop to Robotnik.

The large glass double doors open and Cyrus follows Knuckles inside. He points a finger to the worktable and Cyrus heads there loyally. While his back is turned, he can hear Knuckles exit and the double doors shut. Cyrus immediately picks up two pieces of material in his hands, making it look like he's trying to invent a machine, but in reality, he's contemplating a way to get Robotnik closer to him. His mind is deep in thought until he realizes he's walking toward a table covered in materials with a device partially finished in his hands. Cyrus stops in the middle of the room and realizes that his roboticization is deeper than he thought. Out of curiosity, he lets his mind wander and carefully observes what his metallic body does on its own. He is aware what he is building a standard resistance weapon, but he is not thinking about it at all, it appears as if the roboticization process will dig through the mind and gather all information important to Robotnik, but his movements are stale and mechanized, so Robotnik must dispel expressive information so his minions are mindless. Gaining control once again, he uses his newly improved eyesight to get a god observation on his surroundings. There are cameras in the hallway and one on two corners of the room, probably to make sure the scientists don't break down. There are many other scientists in the room, and they are all either working on their inventions or moving around to gather parts for them. Cyrus eyes the unfinished device in his hand and eyes the other devices in the room, all looking inferior or substandard compared to his own.

But his eyes immediately stop wandering when his eyes reach one particular device. It is sleek, chrome-plated, and has a design similar to his own, but that's not what spooked the child genius, it was the creator.

Standing emotionless above the device is the robot version of Cyrus's very own father. And when he hurriedly scans the room again, he sees Sonic's Uncle Chuck working on a device as well. He's walked into possibly the worst reunion in Mobian history. He turns his head down and observes his machine, then starts to whisper the sudden turn of events.

From the main resistance laboratory, Manic is in a room with numerous other Freedom Fighters operating makeshift equipment gathered from various methods all over Robotropolis. The room was dark save for the many diverse machines bathing it in a dull spectrum of multicolored light. Through the microphone placed in the chip, Manic is receiving and recording all of the information he can gather, the sounds of the building, the amount of steps they are taking, and who is with them. For a while, he was scared that Cyrus' mind has actually become altered, but he is a relieved off to hear Cyrus's informative whispering.

"Manic; you're not going to believe this…I see my dad and Sonic's uncle here." Manic is dumbfounded by the revelation, but cannot offer his opinion, the microphone is one-way. He can only listen as Cyrus gives the startling details. The other resistance members gather around his station, awaiting word on the successfulness of the infiltration. "The plan worked Manic, but in case I get in trouble, have my back okay?" Manic releases his held breath in a sigh of relief and says "ok", more to himself to Cyrus.

"Wish me luck." The disgruntled lion whispers until silencing completely. Manic wishes him luck and takes off his headphones, turning to the anxious soldiers turning to him for a response. With a smile and a thumbs-up, Manic tells them that the plan worked. The compatriots exchanged handshakes and high fives as Manic handed the headphones to another man, telling him to alert him if new activity presented itself in Cyrus's mission.

But one thing is still nagging on Manic's mind; what did Cyrus mean when he said to Knuckles: "I'm sorry what you went through..?" Manic convinces himself that Cyrus meant being roboticized and continues to perform his duties.

He turns to a computer at his right and observes the two small greens blips on the screen approaching the intended location, the Floating Island. Riding in *ahem* "borrowed" Swatbot vehicles, Sonic, Sonia, and his mom should be approaching soon. Executing an infiltration of the island in midday may seem brazen, but that's the point. Sonic will be heading toward the east side while Aleena and Sonia follow the west. The plan is that Sonic, coming from the east, will start demolishing Robotnik's droids to divert as much attention from Sonia and Aleena as he can. If he creates enough of a disturbance, the Doctor will send the only person that could match Sonic's great power, Knuckles the Echidna. Meanwhile, Sonia and Aleena, each garbed with cloaking devices, will sneak over to the Hidden Robian Processing Plant. This is the same place where Sonic and Sonia had their last run-in with Robotnik. Once there, Aleena and Sonia will covertly sneak onto the roof of the plant and place the de-roboticization satellite, ensuring that when it activates, the Floating Island will be restored to its former glory, and the animals will be freed. At least, that's the plan.

"Sonic," Manic says into the microphone attached to the computer, "you reading me okay?"

"Yep, loud and clear man." Sonic says, preparing to land the small motorized vehicle up to the east side of the airborne island. In the small pod, Sonic's large brown backpack prevents him from sitting comfortably in the chair, but considering what he's up against, he's glad to have it.

"Mom? Sonia? How about you guys?" Manic asks, gaining an immediate response from his sister.

"Yes Manic, we're almost there. Good Luck Sonic."

"Good Luck sis." Sonic says.

"Remember the plan Sonic, go nuts!" Manic says excitedly into the microphone, causing Sonic to smile and cock his eyebrow before speaking into the transceiver.

"Don't worry about that bro; you just work on finding the rest of those chaos emeralds! And Sonia, you just hurry up and get that satellite up and running before Robotnik knows you guys are there. Good luck to you!"

"I love you son, be careful!" Queen Aleena says over Sonia's shoulder.

"I love you too mom!" Sonic says before shutting off the radio. He turns off his cloaking device and swerves his vehicle onto the island, making a swift landing before hopping out of it. Sonic is seen wearing a worn brown backpack, whose contents are known by all except Robotnik. Taking a deep breath, he lets his lungs fill with air before letting out a howl of complete and utter boldness.

"Watch out Robotnik, I'm coming for you." Sonic swings the backpack out in front of him and tightens the straps holding its glowing contents inside. "Let's see if this baby has the juice I need to win!" Sonic says. He then tightens the straps on his back and dashes forward imbued with an ancient power. For inside the pack lies a one of the mystical Chaos Emeralds.


	9. Chapter 9: Blue Streak

Sonic may be the fastest thing alive, and possibly the bravest heart in all of Mobius, but he's still a person, and people have a finite amount of energy they can spend before conking out. The blue streak can speed by as much as he pleases, but without a break, his confrontations with Robotnik's robots would be more difficult than running through water. That's why the Sonic Underground made the nearly unanimous decision to hand over to Sonic one of the Chaos Emeralds to use while he was on this strenuous and rather dangerous mission. The energy that the emerald would imbue into Sonic would give him more strength, more power, and his personal favorite, more speed. Of course, there were the risks, such as losing the chaos emerald and putting their entire plan to a standstill, but no biggy right? Heh heh…

As Sonic thinks over losing the Chaos emerald in his mind, he forcibly swallows down his nervousness to make room for concentration and the so sweet familiar feeling of adventure. What a rush. He runs vertically up the tallest tree he could see, the task made easy with his hyper friction sneakers, and he grabs the tallest branch with his left arm. Spreading his other arm wide outward, he feels the wind rustle through his spines and begins gazing upon the metallic scenery that displayed before him. The scenery was strange to say the least, but in the glimmering of the sun, and the not yet stale air of the armor plant permeating the island, the scene is almost beautiful. But Sonic, as well as the other freedom fighters knew just how dark the mastermind behind the island was, and Sonic was determined to return it how it had been, serene, beautiful, vivacious, and _natural. _That is the way the world intended it to be, and that's the way Sonic's going to return it, the shining metal may be impressive, maybe even pretty, but all that glitters is not gold.

Sonic bounds off the base of the tree and into the prickly leaves at the top. He stands as balances and activates his guitar. He sucks in a deep breath of air and announces his presence to the island, if not the whole planet.

"GOOOOD MORNING ROBOTROPOLIS!"

The shout is picked up by one of the island's auditory receptors and transmitted to Robotnik in his command center. In full view of the mad doctor is the spikey blue boy himself, sporting none other than his signature guitar and ever-so-brazen attitude.

"The Hedgehog!" Robotnik presses a button on his computer and speaks into a microphone on the side. "Swatbots! Close in on the East side of the Island, do not let that hedgehog escape this time!" Through the gritting of his teeth, Robotnik listened to Sonic rant on about his opinions.

"I don't really like what you've done with the island Ro-BUTT-nik, and I especially don't like the fact that you captured Knuckles, Cyrus, and all the innocent critters on this island! But I'm still a good sport, and I got to say, you put up a good fight…But it's all going to end, right here, right now!" Sonic takes up his guitar and strums a few strings to make sure it is working. He places his hand on his forehead to keep the sun from his eyes and squints at the horizon; when he sees the faint figures of Swatbots making his way toward him, he raises his hand high up into the air and shouts out loud.

"ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?!" Sonic yells at the top of his lungs. He leaps from the top of one tree and clasps onto the leaves of a shorter one. He spins down and around the tree over and over until his feet are once again on solid ground.

Between the trees, Sonic can see the unmistakable sheen of robotic armor flying toward him, so he gives the situation his trademark grin and runs toward the more roboticized parts at the center of the island. "Catch me if you can!" Sonic yells as the robots pursue from all directions.

Sonia and Aleena are on the West side of the island, hiding in the thick shadows and invisible due to their cloaking devices. Carting their all-important cargo, they are making excellent time, and are halfway to their intended destination. But even so, Sonia is starting to experience the weakness that set in after getting shot with the laser earlier. Aleena is concerned, but Sonia presses on. They both know the stakes.

"Sonia, are you ok to go on?" Aleena says concerned. Sonia huffs a little and lifts the de-roboticizer more strongly to try and quell Aleena's concerns.

"I'm fine mother; just a little tired is all. But don't worry, we're almost there." Sonia is more tired than she let on, but she is not going to stop, or seven slow down for that matter. She has come to love that island as a second home, and she is not going to disappoint it by shirking her responsibilities as a freedom fighter, even with her handicap. That's not what Knuckles would have wanted.

Sonic bounces to and fro, knocking the heads of robots and dashing through the trees at hypersonic speeds. Sonic bounces on three robot heads consecutively and out of each of them pops out a small animal, and they scurry away from the scene. Robots are surrounding Sonic by the dozens, but because of the concealed chaos emerald, Sonic tore through them quickly and effectively. The energy of the emerald, though unstable, is coursing through Sonic's veins and saturating his muscles with indescribable power. Sonic feels a thick burning sensation as the emerald works its magic, the power feels like acid through his veins, the unpurified force causing his thoughts to cloud. Though painful, Sonic finds that the more he absorbs, the more he embraces the pain. It's as if something darker is needling its way through Sonic's mind, but right now, he is too concentrated to think much about it.

"What's wrong metal heads, can't keep up?" Sonic spins around and around and creates a tornado that sucks up and breaks many of the robots. Sonic also runs shoulder first into piles of them, knocking them over as he went. And lastly, as his personal favorite method, he bounces on the heads of the remaining individual robots, either breaking them if they're Swatbots or freeing the animals inside if they're Badniks. Sonic does this for a good five minutes, until what's left of the battalion is a field of mangled scrap metal. He screeches to a halt and brushes the dust off his hands; he puts his hands on his hips, lowers his left eyebrow, and looks contemptuously at the broken robots. His stare is broken by a gleam that grazes the corner of his eye. His gaze darts up into the sky where a patrol-bot is watching him from right above.

"Tsk tsk tsk…" Sonic mocks, "You need to work harder on these things Scuz-botnik. I didn't even break a sweat this time!" Sonic waves his finger side to side in derision and bolts off into the direction of Robotnik's main base of operations, at the very heart of the island. Robotnik pounds his computer monitor repeatedly in a frenzied fit of rage; he grabs his microphone and issues his commands.

"KNUCKLES! DESTROY THAT HEDGEHOG! SWATBOTS FLEET 2, FOLLOW HIM!" After yelling into the microphone, he relaxes back in his chair and interlocks his hands. He then places them under his grotesque double-chin and contemplates the situation. _How can that dastardly hedgehog tear through all my Swatbots and Badniks so easily? And he's not even breaking a sweat this time! How could he have gained so much power? Has the promised day really come? _Robotnik shakes his head and loudly yells "No!" to himself. At this point, Sleet and Dingo have just walked into the room and Robotnik turns around furiously.

"Can't you see that I'm busy Sleet?!" Robotnik barks at Sleet and Sleet flinches a little, but Dingo just looks at his unsettled partner.

"Uhh… we have news Dr. Robotnik. Heh aheh… your army is almost all covered, we're about sixty percent completed your Excellency."

"Oy, yeah, your eggspellencey." Dingo says.

"Shut up you idiot." Sleet jabs Dingo with his shoulder and Dingo doesn't even flinch. "Oh, and that's not all Dr. Robotnik, but we have just refueled those special missiles you requested." This fills Robotnik with temporary glee; he laughs unswervingly and wrings his hands.

"Yes… It won't be long now… Mua ha ha…You are dismissed Sleet, _have a nice day_…" The last words of Robotnik send a chill down Sleet's spine; as the two henchmen file out of the room, Robotnik is left to his thoughts. _What absurdity, destiny will not be able to save them now. I have captured their friends, roboticized their possible allies, and I possess limitless robots under my command. And if none of my plan works, I will still have that one ace up my sleeve… _Robotnik holds these thoughts in his mind as the attack ensues on the island.

Sonia and Aleena arrive at the mostly deserted destination. Most of the Swatbots have other blue-spiked problems to deal with at the moment. With laughable ease, they are able to sneak to the side of the processing plant and scale the side with some of Cyrus's gadgetry. With silent footsteps, they make their way to the center of the roof of the building and remove their cloaking devices. It's much easier to see what you're doing when you can _actually_ see what you're doing. Working with dexterity and concentration, Aleena calibrates the machine to cover the radius of the island. Sonia was done with her part, which was to lead her mother to the location and help her to carry the device. Sonia is experienced with certain forms of technology, but installing de-roboticization dishes is a task over her head. Instead, she gives into the weakness she feels in her body and lies down on the concrete roof.

"Are you ok Sonia?" Aleena asks quietly.

"I'm fine mother, just resting my eyes a little is all." Sonia says tiredly. She rests her eyes for a moment while listening to her mother hurriedly type on the keys. Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, Sonic is scouting out for stray Badniks to outlet some of his excess energy. He comes upon a scene stuck in time, a small flat with metal trees, roboticized flowers and bushes, and a waterfall on his right side, the water frozen as a smooth metallic surface. The area surrounding them is almost entirely metal, the trees have solid metal trunks and the floor is covered in a fine layer of steel. But in patches that were left untouched, some shrubs and grass were still visible. Oddly, there is a barely visible rectangular imprint in the floor alongside the waterfall; but Sonic thinks nothing of this, as he is more interested in what is occupying the area. When Sonic sees a row of about five Badniks, he gives a sly smile and jumps up, bouncing on each one of the metallic shells. With the doctor's pressure induced release system, the small animals trapped in the capsules become free and scurry off into many different directions. When Sonic sees them scurrying away, his pupils dilate and he is instantaneously brought back to a flashback of himself scurrying away from his own house, when he was only a toddler. And when he came back, it was burning to the ground. Sonic clenched his head in pain, wondering why all these memories are returning to him. Suddenly, he is brought back into another flashback, this time in the Flying fortress, when he was running away from the emerald energy field.

Sonic takes his backpack of and swings it in front of him, then drops to the floor as his mind produces another flashback. This one is only snippets, but of the huge monster of Dingo and the broken emerald, Knuckles, and Manic's drums pounding away. Sonic throws the backpack against a tree away from him and like magic; the thoughts in his head automatically stop. Sonic gets up and dusts himself off, staring at the backpack.

"Note to self," Sonic says quizzically, "prolonged exposure to magical rock causes _weird things_." Sonic goes over to check on the emerald and thankfully, it is still intact. We would not want a repeat of Dingo's stupidity on their hands right now. But as a precaution, Sonic closes it tightly and hides it behind a metal bush. Sonic observes the area closely, awed and appalled by the drastic transformation of island's nature, Sonic sits down at the base of a tree trunk, opposite the side of where the emerald is hidden. Though the emerald became too much, Sonic still felt fully recharged, as if he never even fought at all. However, He cannot recall most of what he did, and is a little freaked out buy how the emerald consumed his mindset so fully. Athair was right about one thing, if a person can be altered by the presence of just _one_ emerald; imagine what all _eight_ would do to someone. Sonic shutters at the thought.

"Hedgehog!" yells a familiar voice from high in the sky. Sonic bounces up without a second thought and faces the flying echidna closing in on his location; behind him, Swatbots are flying in to block off all of Sonic's escape routes. The red man himself touches down on the metal-plated grass of the area and straightens out in fierce determination. Sonic lets his body relax and places a hand on his hip; he then leers at Knuckles and cocks his head to the left.

"Yeah, I definitely don't see that getup working for you." Sonic shrugs his holders and spreads his hands. "I definitely would see you with more of a _natural _look." Sonic tries to keep the situation light-hearted, but he can see that his snarky comments are falling on deaf ears. Knuckles braces himself in a fighting position and positions his claws ready to slash at Sonic.

"My master has ordered me to dispose of you," Knuckles tenses all of his muscles. "I will not disappoint." Knuckles growls a little and Sonic points straight at him.

"Ok… But you know, I don't see a reason for those other guys" Sonic says, gesticulating at the Swatbots blocking off his escape routes. In an instant, Sonic seemingly vanishes. The blue blur rapidly encircles the area in a tornado of gale-force wind, destroying the latter. One by one, the robots are smashed to pieces, yet Knuckles seems completely impartial. Sonia screeches to a halt and dusts off his hands.

"Now that's a lot better, wouldn't you say?" Sonic grins and Knuckles remains unchanged. Reluctantly, Sonic sees that his antics are not going to sway Knuckles' mutated mind, and just like that, the scene takes a dramatic turn for the violent. Sonic's grin turns into a steady frown and his eyes narrow to a hateful leer matching Knuckles'. He has to fight, or else. Getting into a fighting stance, the air becomes deathly silent. No more jokes, no more cocky remarks, no more fun and games. Or else…

Knuckles is **_gone_**.

Knuckles pounces toward Sonic with primal ferocity.


	10. Chapter 10: Beneath the Fury

**So sorry about the long wait! You know life, sometimes you can breeze through it like the sky and other times it likes to hit you like a mallet. But anyway, back to the story, with Sonic and Knuckles preparing for an epic duel and Sonia and Aleena preparing the satellite, will everything go smoothly, or will Robotnik end up uncovering their elaborate plans? **

**Find out in this exciting addition of : The Sonic Underground Finale!**

Sonic takes the full force of Knuckles's pounce and the trees shake with the power of the impact. Sonic holds Knuckles in place with his heels digging into the ground, and they both growl at each other. Sonic tucks his legs under Knuckles chest. POW! Knuckles is flung off of Sonic and backflips twice before landing harshly on the floor, creating a dust cloud as his heavy metal spines kicked up the dirt. In less than a second, Sonic dashes forward and punches Knuckles straight in the cheek. WHAM! He stumbles over and over before driving his solid left claw into the dirt and swinging himself back around in the direction of Sonic. Sonic braces himself before Knuckles tackles him and the two are sent somersaulting into the trees. Shrapnel is sent flying when Knuckles manages to grab Sonic and hurl him into the metallic leaves of a tree. Sonic falls down and Knuckles lunges at him with his claws, going for his throat. Sonic flips out of the way and Knuckles obliterates the tree trunk behind them. When Knuckles turns around, he is kicked sharply in the jaw by Sonic's lightning fast sneaker. The impact sends Knuckles soaring and Sonic leaps after him. Knuckles's is face gritted in pain, but he winces his eyes open when Sonic hovers above him midair. He makes a grab for the airborne hedgehog but instead takes a devastatingly powerful axe-kick to the chest. With a sharp cry, Knuckles plummets to the floor with massive force, the shock is so strong that he bounces before lying still on the metallic floor.

Sonic rides out the spin he placed on his body and directs himself toward the direction of a roboticized tree. With one hand on the trunk, he whirls around and around the tree before his feet meet the ground. Knuckles is slowly getting up and Sonic is slowly walking closer to him. He is confident that the battle is won, so he prepares to make his move. He has to knock Knuckles out and bring him back to the lab, and then they'll work out the kinks from there. Considering their main "kink" is the fact that Knuckles is a robot, that's another issue altogether. But for now, he's ready for action. With incredible speed, he closes the distance between him and Knuckles and winds up his arm deliver a knockout punch.

Without warning, Knuckles throws a shard of metal at Sonic, which grazes the hedgehog's arm before he is able to hit him. Sonic stumbles back, and Knuckles uses the distraction to tackle the hedgehog with all his force. Knuckles pins Sonic to the floor and Sonic backhands the crazed echidna. Stunned, the echidna tries to slash at Sonic's face, but Sonic had already begun to kick him off. With a heavy shrug, Knuckles is flung away from Sonic, who had already begun to run away. With a swift maneuver, Knuckles jumps forward and grabs Sonic's leg. Using tremendous explosive power, he clenches onto Sonic's leg tightly and spins him around and around to gain power.

"GRAAAHHH!" With a frightening roar, Knuckles flings Sonic into a tree and Sonic bashes into it with dizzying force. The shock of the maneuver causes Sonic to scream as he collides with the trunk.

"YAH!"

Knuckles's roar had reverberated all throughout the island, reaching Sonia and Aleena's sensitive hedgehog ears. They each stopped their activities to listen and each pay attention with horror as they hear Sonic's scream follow shortly after. Without a second thought, Sonia flips on her cloaking device and leaps off of the roof, heading for their direction.

"Wait!" Queen Aleena yells after her, but Sonia can't hear anything, her mind is too clouded with the hope that she is not too late. Even though Queen Aleena wishes she can chase after her daughter, she has neither the speed nor option to do that; she has to finish installing the satellite, or the island will parish. With serious haste, Queen Aleena types away at the small keyboard, hoping to finish up before everything goes up in smoke.

Sonic and Knuckles are duking it out close-combat style in the middle of the lot. With each intensely accurate move, the other either blocks, dodges, or counters it, and with the groundbreaking speed to which these moves are executed, neither of them is giving an inch. Knuckles kicks and Sonic ducks, Sonic punches, but Knuckles dodges, Sonic kicks, and Knuckles deflects it. It's a maddeningly repetitious cycle. Sonic's is quick, but each of his impacts is met with Knuckles's incredible strength. Knuckles is strong, but Sonic's rapid movements prove to be a challenge for the determined Robian. Paired with Sonic having increased power from the Chaos emerald and Knuckles covered in Robotnik's metal armor, this fight is roughly 50/50. With the odds in anyone's favor.

Suddenly, Sonic lashes out and the two are flung away from each other to opposite sides of the lot. Sonic grasps his arm, which is bleeding slightly from the cut, but he is in no way willing to show any sign of weakness to his opponent. Both of them are slightly worn out, but Sonic is showing more signs of the conflict than Knuckles. They both have labored breathing, but Knuckles has considerably less cuts than Sonic due to his metal armor. But even so, Sonic is not willing to let defeat rear its ugly face, not when he's got a job to do. He stands tall and fleers at his opponent derisively, hoping to gain a familiar response from his once dear friend.

"Some people just don't give up, do they?" Sonic says, not getting even a hint of personality from Knuckles. "Knuckles," Sonic starts, "you know, the only reason your acting like this is because Robotnik told you to. I'm going to stop this Knuckles, you're my friend." Knuckles snorts at this.

"Dr. Robotnik has ordered me to destroy Sonic the Hedgehog. I must destroy Sonic the Hedgehog. It is my directive from the Doctor. Must Obey Robotnik. You are Sonic the Hedgehog; therefore, you must be destroyed. Must obey Robotnik. Must obey." Knuckles once again starts into his fighting position and Sonic flinches when he gets into his.

"Oh well, looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way." Sonic yells loudly as he lunges for Knuckles.

From the inside of the main resistance laboratory, Manic is busying himself with the dispersion of the de-roboticization satellites when another man informs him of some rather startling news.

"Manic sir, Squadrons 1, 3, and 7 have all informed us that they have each obtained a Chaos Emerald. What are your orders Manic?" Manic responds promptly and directly.

"Put me on line with each of them." The soldier leads Manic to a computer and activates the communicator, as soon as the calibrations were complete; Manic takes hold of the microphone and speaks into it clearly to give them the much needed direction.

"Squadrons, make sure those Emeralds are contained in lead-lined cases, having that kind of energy unprotected on board an aircraft could lead to serious complications. Once in the city, hand-deliver them to the Alpha laboratory in the residential district, make sure that the Emeralds are placed at least ten feet apart from one another. Do not attempt to interact with the Emeralds in any other way. I repeat, do NOT attempt to interact with the Emeralds in any other way. Am I clear?" Manic says.

"Affirmative." Assures the soldiers.

"Excellent, now proceed with your missions." Manic turns to the soldier behind him and gives a firm order.

"Report to me if any other squadron has found a Chaos Emerald; if anything goes wrong; make sure that I am one of the first ones who hears about it, agreed?" says the serious green teen. The soldier nods his head and salutes his diminutive leader. Manic is completely straightforward and direct with his commands, following a careful plan with just enough room for tractability. Everything that goes on in the laboratories, the city, and the Floating Island is crucial to the overthrow of Robotnik, and Manic knows that he is not going to mess it up. Manic then turns his head back to some of the hacked surveillance footage on the island. He can see Sonic and Knuckles duking it out, but he is concerned about the fact that Sonic discarded his Chaos emerald. He knows that Sonic must have had a good reason for not using its energy, but he just hopes that it was the right one; Sonic is struggling, and Manic knows he is. He hurts with him.

"Come on bro… Be careful..." Manic says to the screen.

Sonic and Knuckles lock hands and stare fiercely into each other's faces. Sonic's deep black eyes are reflected in Knuckles's grid-like yellow ones. Knuckles gives a terrifying animalistic growl and Sonic gives one back to him. With dizzying swiftness, Sonic shoves Knuckles's hands down and causes him to lean forward, in mid-fall, he strikes his face with his elbow. Unfortunately, the maneuver does not topple the echidna; Knuckles stares at Sonic's shocked face and yells out as he knees Sonic in the chest. Sonic begins to fall before Knuckles grabs his arms and whips him onto the floor with extreme force; he does over and over again until he throws Sonic off to the side into another tree. Dents are left where Sonic's body struck the solid metal floor, and the tree is bent where he was thrown. By now, Sonic is hurt, and it is apparent that he is losing badly. Knuckles walks over to the incapacitated hero and raises his scratched up claws high into the air. The sunlight gleams off of the mechanized arm as it reaches its optimal height for penetration, and without a single emotion on his voice, Knuckles says "Objective complete."

"Yahh!" With a harsh shriek, Knuckles brings down his heavy claw on Sonic, only to be flung across the lot by a sharp kick to his temple. Knuckles hits the metallic tree with such incredible force that the tree is split in half, his voice crackled and fizzed when he speaks, and when he hits the floor, he scratches the dirt out of pure shock. He looks around furiously to find his attacker, and it does not take long to find her.

With a dull brown pack on her back, Sonia is panting heavily with tears pouring down her cheeks. Seeing the girl had made Knuckles hesitate for a split second before springing back into fighting position and lunging for her.

In Knuckles's mind, the sight of the pink hedgehog had reminded him of his directive, **_Destroy the Sonic Underground_**, but at the same time, he felt something completely unfamiliar. But though it felt utterly alien, it's as if he's felt it before, it only serves to confuse him. Before he can even act clearly, he lashes out at the pink hedgehog only to see that she rushed behind him and delivered a powerful kick to the back of his head. Knuckles stumbles on the floor and attempts to get up, but he cannot get his mind straight. What is it that's going on…it's too peculiar, is he…thinking? He suddenly remembers the identity of the girl, Sonia the Hedgehog of the Sonic Underground; he must destroy them, but what is holding him back? He begins to repeat his directive in his mangled mind. **_I must destroy the Sonic Underground, Sonic the Hedgehog…Manic the Hedgehog… So..S-S-on-_**_S-S-Sonia-a? Sonia the Hedgehog….Sonia…SONIA?!_

The name sends the once-ferocious Knuckles to his knees in utter confusion; he grasps his head in painful comprehension, but at the same time, he does it in utter blindness. Sonia is stunned, but she gets a weak grasp of what's happening.

"Fight it Knuckles! You remember me! It's Sonia! Fight it; you don't want to do this!" Sonia yells louder and louder. She drops the backpack with the emerald and slowly approaches the struggling echidna; but instead she walks with her hands out in submission and her voice soothing.

"Knuckles…remember me? You love this island…We're your friends….Knuckles the Echidna; that's who you are, not Robotnik's puppet. We all care about you…" Sonia says kindly.

Just as Knuckles looks as if he's coming into grasps with everything, Robotnik's voice booms through the microphones in his head, sending a painful wave through his mind.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" yells Robotnik, "DESTROY THEM ALL!" Knuckles shoots his eyelids open and springs up, grabbing Sonia by her throat. She squeaks in shock as she is lifted off of the ground by Knuckle's brute strength, and she stares down at her attacker with sorrow. Knuckles lifts his hand and prepares to strike her soft throat. But before he does, he stares into her eyes, surprised by what he sees. Unlike Sonic, her eyes are not intense, not in the least; in fact, her eyes are sad, they even had tears pouring down them, which made Knuckles stop and just look at her, he is confused and wondering why her eyes look like that. Without even thinking, Sonia pleads with him.

"Knuckles please…. Listen to me, don't you remember, we were here…its different now, but it looks the same without the metal…Remember? In this exact place." Out of a strange feeling, Knuckles looks around the area, not letting go of Sonia, but not tightening his grasp either. A small feeling arises, but Knuckles quickly shoves it down and stares back at Sonia with his arm raised harshly.

"Must Obey Robotnik. Robotnik says to destroy the Sonic Underground. You are from the Sonic Underground; therefore, you must be destroyed. Must obey Robotnik.." Before letting him finish, Sonia continues to try and break through to him.

"Robotnik killed your father Knuckles! You told me that here! You hate Robotnik and committed your time to help us defeat him. You can't let him defeat you! Your stronger than him Knuckles, he can't break your heart!" At this, Knuckles tightens his grip on Sonia's throat and raises his arm at her even harsher, tensing all his muscles. Sonia has no idea what she said, but even through her constricted airway, she pleads with him.

"Your eyes, Knuckles, they used to be so beautiful, and now look at them, they're all yellow and not the same anymore. Knuckles, I loved your eyes, I loved this island, and Robotnik's ruined everything." Knuckles starts to weaken and his hand starts to shake a little, these words, they're reaching him somehow… "We were on this island together…On that blanket…." Sonia weakly points over to the blanket on the grass, which just looks like a metal rectangle save for a small orange piece of cloth showing through the cracks on the steel. Knuckles shakes his head and fiercely looks at the small girl in his hand, he thrusts his hand forward toward her face and she flinches momentarily. He gets within two centimeters, but once there, he cannot fall through. He stops and Sonia looks deep into his eyes in both wonderment and confusion, she's scared, but also worried for him.

"Must…Obey…Robotnik…" Knuckles mutters with a fizzling voice. "Must destroy the Sonic Underground…Must d-destroy….You….must…be…" Knuckles stops talking for a moment when he gets an instantaneous flashback. He hears his own voice talking to Sonia, and sees her face buried in his chest, only it was not his chest, it couldn't be….There was no…metal… He looks down at his monstrous claws to make sure that he was made of metal, and that's when he sees his face. His eyes are gridded like she says, but there's water down his cheeks, he's crying; he knows he's crying but he doesn't know why! He turns once again to Sonia and winds his arm back to strike her once again, but this time his hand can't move in the slightest. It only shakes in place. His face contorts into a look of desperation, and he clenches his teeth at not being able to compute why he can't finish her off.

"Must destroy the Sonic Underground…Cannot destroy them….Cannot destroy Sonia…I don't WANT TO!" Knuckles tightens his grip on her throat and she knows that if she doesn't do something, he's going to choke her, whether he wants to or not.

"KNUCKLES! FINISH HER OFF!" Screams Robotnik through the microphones, but Knuckles cannot, Robotnik's orders fall on deaf ears.

"Knuckles…remember that wish I made…?" Sonia squeaks out, "It was that you would love me…as I do you…" This is all too much for Knuckles, he roars loudly and thrusts his fist toward Sonia, no stopping this time.

Out of the blue, Sonic rams his knee into Knuckles's ribcage, and sends him sprawling to the floor, unconscious. His yellow eyes fizzle out and the lights illuminating them turn off. Sonic catches his sister and straightens her out, and she begins her relentless nagging.

"You couldn't have waked up sooner?! I could have died!" yells Sonia, but Sonic just cuts in and quiets her.

"Nag me later. Robuttnik's gonna send his goons any moment now! We gotta juice outta here!" Sonia runs over and picks up Knuckles with Sonic following closely behind. "Wait!" Sonic yells as soon as they are nearing the metal trees, "One sec." He runs back to the lot and picks up the backpack, making certain that the emerald is still inside of it. He heaps it onto his back and runs back into the forest to meet up with Sonia.

"That would've been bad." Sonic says nonchalantly, they then disappear into the brush as Robotnik's robots circle overhead.

Queen Aleena had already finished installing the de-roboticization satellite a while ago and is now readying the airplane for departure. She checks the systems to make sure they are all functional, and she even circles the craft to look for damages. To her great pleasure, there are none. The sirens are blazing loudly overhead, and despite the limitless trust she has for her children, she is still concerned about their well-being. She shakes off these thoughts and remembers that they are great freedom fighters, but then she is reminded that they are still children, which is something everyone seems to forget. Despite the circumstances though, she has faith in them. With any luck, they are already headed back to meet with her, and they have Knuckles with them.

With all preparations ready, she hops into the driver's seat and starts the engine. Now all she has to do is wait for them to show up. That's not very long.

"START THE PLANE! START THE PLANE! START THE PLANE!" Sonic yells from the trees as he is helping Sonia carry the unconscious metal echidna to the large Swatbot vehicle. Sonic throws Knuckles into the back of the ship and hops in while Sonia takes up the seat next to her mother. With the frantic jab of the gas petal and twist of the steering wheel, the ship rockets away from the Floating Island, along with it the hopes of a new world.


	11. Chapter 11: Broken Heart

**Warning: This chapter is sad. If you are not a fan of sadness; this chapter can be skipped, however, the chapter is important for establishing the mood for the others.**

**With Knuckles returned to the resistance, all is not well. Robotnik is raving mad, Sonia is devastated over the mutation of her best friend, and Sonic has just discovered a horrifying secret that might have been hidden from everyone by Cyrus. Will Robotnik prevail? Has everyone gathered together to meet their victory or their demise? Answers to come...**

"GAAHHHHH!" Robotnik pounds his fists on his armchair and starts to crack the metal device under his unbelievable strength. He had lost the hedgehogs in the woods, and now, he spent the good part of an hour trying to find them, but to no avail. As he tried to call back Knuckles to find them, he was unresponsive, meaning one of two things, 1: They killed him, and he does not believe that's the case, or 2: They took him away, which is probably the more believable option. Robotnik lost his targets… and he did not like this one bit.

"How could they have gotten away with such a feat?! I must have sent hundreds of Robots to fight that crass blue…pipsqueak! And he defeated them all without even trying!? What is the meaning of this?! HOW?!" Robotnik leans back in his chair and starts to work out all of the details in his mind. He has no idea where they are, but he figures that they must have already reunited with their mother; it's the only thing that would make sense. But that's just it, nothing else is making sense. Why was the pink one also on the island? And Sonic had talked about retrieving Knuckles and Cyrus, but they only retrieved Knuckles. Perhaps they could have gone into retreat, but it seems out of character for them to just leave. What was their mode of transportation? Most likely a stolen Swat bot vehicle, that much was certain. But still, there are puzzle pieces not clicking, and Robotnik is getting even more aggravated. He places his hand in his hands and grits his teeth as he hears the infuriating voice of Sleet behind him.

"Uh…M-Master Robotnik?" Sleet says sheepishly. Robotnik throws him a harsh glare and Sleet continues unnerved. "Sir; the army is covered at about 80 percent. It won't be long now…" Instead of being pleased as Sleet thought he would be, Robotnik yells at them brutally.

"Well move it along faster! They should be done by now!" Robotnik points a finger at the door and stares at the cowering Sleet. "Now get back to the factory and see to it that those robots get done! That's an order!" Sleet turns to run out of the room and trips. He is helped up by Dingo, and Dingo throws a disapproving glance at Robotnik.

That's it.

Upon looking at Dingo, Robotnik is reminded of the time he turned into a giant monster. That's exactly how they did it, how they were able to defeat him so easily. Robotnik starts laughing psychotically and Sleet and Dingo exit the room post haste. Robotnik spreads his arms out wide and stares at the computer overlooking the Floating Island. He grabs his face and smiles, his dark red eye showing through his monstrous gloved hand. He has finally figured it out; there was no divine intervention, no secret super weapon, none of the fictitious "power of family" oh no, it was something much simpler than that…

They have found a **Chaos Emerald**.

…

The thunder and lightning are pounding outside in the city of Robotropolis; the thundering of the storm can be heard even inside of the expansive Alpha Laboratory. The oversized lab stocks many gadgets and weapons, along with six of the seven Chaos Emeralds that they need to obtain. A few more teams managed to find the emeralds before Sonic and the others arrived from their island mission. Now, Manic, Sonic, Sonia, and Aleena have all congregated inside of the laboratory, standing around a large thick glass tube.

Inside of the glass tube is the small red echidna, sleeping calmly while the metal attachments move up and down with his limp body. His breathing is strong and labored, which instigates concern in his friends, especially in one member of the team. Leaning her hand on the glass is none other than Sonia, who can only watch in the most respectful pity as her dear friend is suffering so dearly. Sonia is not crying, yet she is sincerely worried about his sorry state; but even though she is worried, she can't bring herself to make words. She can only stare at him through the glass and wait for him to awaken.

Sonic looked at Knuckles and also felt sorry for him, but something else caught his eye, something he dare not bring to attention. Knuckles's body is transformed, that much is certain, but beneath the metal spines, beneath the horrendous claws and the matted fur, Sonic is utterly horrified at what he believes that he sees. Lash marks.

The kinds of lashes you only see on people who have been whipped.

Sonic hesitates to jump to conclusions though, after all, he had only just noticed the marks, and they could have been obtained during their scuffle; but still, if they are what he thinks they are, then why would Cyrus have kept it a secret from them? Cyrus had read through Knuckles's file, if something _had_ happened, then it would almost certainly be in the there. So why would he keep it a secret?

Sonic's train of thought is interrupted when Sonia calls for his attention.

"Sonic?" She says. Sonic walks over and kneels down next to Sonia, who has still not taken her hand off the glass of the tube.

"Sonic, he's hurting. Look at how hard it is for him to breathe…" Without taking her gaze off Knuckles, tears start to run down her eyes as she spoke. "How could anyone have done something like this to him? I knew Robotnik was evil, but why? Why? I don't understand…" Sonic covers her mouth with her free hand and Sonic hugs her in an attempt to comfort her.

"*sniff* He didn't recognize us Sonic…. *sniff* H-he barely recognized _me_…. How could Robotnik take away his feelings? If I had never been with him to begin with… then…" Sonia chokes on her own words and Sonic hugs her even tighter. Aleena steps forward, but Manic stops her, and it's because he knows that if anyone could handle this, Sonic could.

"Sis…" Sonic starts, "never think that this is your fault. You know Robotnik doesn't care about anything except for himself; he's the one that did this to Knuckles, not you. Remember, once we get going, Robotnik's not gonna stand a chance. Knuckles will be back to normal. We'll find a way; we always do."

Sonia wraps both of her arms around Sonic and cries into his chest violently. Her sobs reverberate through the room and through the glass chamber; and unseen by the team, Knuckles's eyes tear up in unconscious sadness.

After the little episode, Sonic manages to slip away and get his paws on Cyrus's laptop. In a small sub-room, he locks the door and sits down at the individual desk. He boots up the power and as the small virtual hourglass pours pixelated sand into itself on the screen, Sonic is both anxious and determined to see what lie behind lighted screen when it loads to its entirety. If what he thinks he's true, then that means that Knuckles was… Sonic whimpers at the thought. He desperately wishes that he is mistaken. The screen loads entirely and Sonic immediately scrolls his way down to the roboticization records. Cyrus has not refreshed it since before, so Knuckles's file was still at the top of the page like he remembered.

When Sonic clicks on Knuckles's name, he is brought back to the picture like before, but upon closer inspection, a small arrow under the picture indicates that there is more to be seen. With slight reluctance, he clicks on the arrow, only to be met with a ghastly sight. In a dark and damp cell, a non-mechanized Knuckles is chained to a wall by his arms, legs and neck. His head is hung down and he has multiple scratches and lacerations. He looks utterly broken. Sonic's mouth gapes open in revulsion, his eyes dilate, and his breathing transforms into short deep breaths of panic. His head whips around to the direction of the entryway to ensure that the door is firmly locked. Small tears form around his eyes, but he still continues, he has to. He clicks on the next picture, which shows robot soldiers raiding the plane for Knuckles; he was taken on the outskirts of the city, and by the date on the upper right hand corner of the pic, it was presumably right after Sonia and Knuckles went on their date. That much he figured. That being the last picture, Sonic scrolled down to the worded section of the file, which was much more extensive than Sonic had hoped, but that was not the peculiar part about it. Of the fifteen pages of the file, they each had different dates; this is odd because roboticization is only a one day process.

Sonic begins to read.

_Day 1:_

_We have finally done it, months of failure has finally turned from us and onto the doorstep of those miserable freedom fighters. A mission to procure Knuckles the Echidna has been completely successful. Though the win was not without robotic casualty, all will be well when he is roboticized._

_-Dr. Robotnik._

Sonic grabs his head and stares at the screen. He walks over to the door, making positive that it is locked, and then he goes back to the computer and continues to read.

_Day 2: _

_Our first attempt to roboticize the echidna ended in disaster; he scratches and bit and punched his way free. Once he was in the roboticizer, he broke it with his sheer force. His power is enormous, there is no doubt in my mind that once he is roboticized, he will be of great help to me, but until then, I must be patient. Perhaps I must employ new methods of dealing with him. Right now, he is a nuisance._

_-Dr. Robotnik_

Sonic reads and reads the files, each of them opening a new, even more heart stopping record of events. Robotnik cruelly talked about employing different methods of trying to weaken Knuckles, most of them coming to a failure. First they left Knuckles alone for three days in attempt to make him crazy. Knuckles didn't budge. They then took away his food supply, but even still, Knuckles would not surrender to the malignity of Robotnik. Robotnik tried to brainwash Knuckles, telling him that nobody cared about him anymore, that nobody was ever coming to save him. Like a madman, Robotnik **reveled** in the effectiveness of breaking his spirit, calling the practice by a vile name. Breaking his heart. Sonic is utterly appalled by this, he realizes how much Knuckles must have been suffering, and for the first time since he was child, Sonic feels completely powerless. But when Sonic thinks it can't get any worse, he comes upon Day 13…

_Day 13:_

_That insolent echidna is crumbling, his inner strength will soon become his downfall. As the days go on. I am growing ever so infuriated at the puny animal.. The best freedom fighter I have to turn him, he will obey. HE has gotten to be the biggest nuisance in my life at this moment. No matter what I say, no matter what I do, he always suffers it,m how can that Even be possible!? _

Sonic makes a note of the errors in Robotnik's writing, he must be extremely infuriated; as a genius, he almost never makes mistakes in spelling.

_I am my wits end. I will not except defeat by that ignorant guardian. Darn it all/. I can not be confounded by ythat impudent fool, I must switch methods. If whipping him does not prevail, then I have no use for him anymore. His pridewill bestruck down by me. The strong guardian brought to the brink; defeated by the swiftness of my hand, the simplest of weapons, yet the most affective. IF I can't break him, nobody can. An dif he is released, then his mind will be so gone, he will be useless to anyone who dares oppose me. A message to the resistance, the strongest has fallen… forever._

Sonic buries his face in his hands and cries.


	12. Chapter 12: True Guardian

Sonic is jolted out of his shocked state when he hears repetitive strikes on his door, followed by Sonia's shrill and frantic voice.

"Sonic! SONIC!" Sonia yelled, "Sonic! He's waking up! Come! Hurry!" Sonic shuts the laptop and bolts out of his chair, he then unlocks and throws open the door of the small room. Sonia and Sonic dash through one room and into the one with the containment unit. They rush over to the glass cylinder to see Knuckles lifting himself up off of the floor of the chamber. He struggles to get up, his muscles obviously sore from the previous bout, still though, his soreness is not going to undue the effects of the roboticization…and all the rage that accompanies it.

Knuckles rams himself against the side of the glass, gunning straight for Queen Aleena and Manic. The glass however, protects the Royal family from his blind onslaught. Knuckles bounces off, not even denting the solid screen. After hitting the floor of the case, he bounces up and tries desperately to claw at the glass. He pounds and strikes at the glass, but is unable to break to the other side. Pretty soon, he expends all of his energy.

Knuckles drops to his knees and pounds his fist into the glass one final time with a small growl of exhaustion. The glass is not even damaged. Sonia has cried herself out, and she has guarded herself against crying again; she wants to be strong, and she's promised herself that she was not going to cry anymore. Knuckles didn't make friends with a crybaby, he made friends with her. Sonic's holding back his tears, after reading what Robotnik had done, Knuckles does not deserve this. He didn't deserve any of it.

"Don't worry guys," Manic says, breaking the silence that followed Knuckles's rampage, "The glass is super thick and super strong, it can only be opened by voice command." Manic grabs his necklace and carefully lays it in both his hands. "You guys ready?"

Sonia and Sonic both place their necklaces in their hands and aim them toward the direction of the glass. Aleena steps back. "Ok," Manic starts, "The specially engineered chamber is going to amplify the powers of our necklaces, and once we activate them all together the effects will last about one hour. After that, we need to zap him again."

"Are you sure this is going to work Manic?" Sonia asks. Manic gulps and adjusts his vest by shrugging his shoulders.

"We'll see." Manic says.

"One…two!...THREE!"

In an instant, all of the medallions glow a brilliant bright light. From inside the capsule Knuckles stumbles back, frightened by the sudden flash. The room itself is awash in the beautiful glow, and Aleena shields her eyes and watches in wonder. With determined looks on their faces, the trio all watch as the glow turns into an intense beam and shoots into the direction of the capsule. From inside the capsule, Knuckles is confused and scared. He blindly slashes with his claws at the glass, but is expectantly stopped by its strength. He shuts his eyes and leans against the wall, trying to block out what is happening.

Manic calls out to the group. "Hang on dudes, just a little longer! Knuckles, hang in there!"

Suddenly, Knuckles finds himself on his hands and knees, unexplainably calm. His head is bowed down, but it slowly starts to lift, and his eyes begin to open. The light is beautiful, and it is swirling all around him in beautiful sparkles. He heard a voice, a very familiar voice, and somehow it made him feel like things were going to be okay. He wants to think of his directive, but he can't remember the words. Come to think of it, he doesn't even _want_ to remember the words. Knuckles lifts up his upper body, but his knees are still on the floor. He stares blankly into the swirling light, and he feels something inside. It's warm, and he feels it coursing through him. The magic has broken through to him now, and his mind is becoming clear.

Manic, Sonia, and Sonic all stand where they were, their medallions drained of their energy. The flash dissipates and the room seems dark in comparison. Knuckles blinks repeatedly and shakes his head, then he looks upon the ones outside the glass, his captors, but at the same time, his liberators.

"Hello?"

After he speaks, a commotion starts, and the randomness of it causes him stumbling back to the edge of the capsule. When he sits back though, he slams down and hears a clank. That's when he realizes the horrifying truth. He stares at his massive hands where his beloved gloves used to be; only to find that in their place are two monstrous talons, his hands.

"Open the thing Manic! Hurry!" Sonia yells frantically. Anic rushes over to the computer and starts the voice activation sequence.

Knuckles is completely dumbfounded. His chest is metal, his head spines are metal, and his feet are horrifying. They resemble the claws of a lion, and they bring together the severity of Knuckles's terrifying appearance. He cowers in the corner of the capsule, unable to hear anything outside behind his utter astonishment. The capsule suddenly begins to open and Knuckles is startled out of his daze.

A small figure rushes toward Knuckles, and he flinches before the figure makes contact with him. But after the initial surprise, he feels her soft body clutching him lovingly and he hears a soft voice, a soft and very familiar voice. He looks down and sees the small pink girl's spines, and he remembers.

"Sonia…? It's…you…" Knuckles stays in place, letting her hug him, because it felt warm, while he felt so cold. She puts her hands on his shoulders and looks into his eyes in both relief and happiness.

"Knuckles, I'm here, I promise you I'm here! And I'm so glad that you're back…I missed you so much, and I was so worried…" Sonia hugs him again and Knuckles attempts to hug her back, but when his hands feel too heavy, he lets them fall back down to his sides. Knuckles is glad to see her, but is also shocked, and he is on the verge of tears, he is so very confused.

"Sonia, where am I...?" Sonia backs up from Knuckles and looks at him oddly.

"I don't know where I am, can you tell me? What am doing I here in this capsule? And...what happened to me?" Knuckles says, but Sonia barely hears him.

Sonia can only stare into his eyes, so relieved that he is back, even if it was only temporary; and Knuckles stares right back. Not caring in that moment if he ever got an answer. Their connection is unexplainable, yet oh so very deep; it is as if each other's eyes served to make everything okay, even if the world is bathed in chaos. But their moment is interrupted by Sonic, who is taking it upon himself to talk to Knuckles.

"Everyone take five okay," Sonic remits, "I'll explain everything to Knux, trust me, I have this." Sonic rests his hand on Sonia's shoulder and she gets up. Soon after, she exits with Manic and her mother, leaving Sonic and Knuckles to talk in private. His family trusts him, and after the events of today, everyone could need a break.

Sonic approaches the bewildered echidna and kneels down. "Knuckles," Sonic starts, "Do you remember me?" Knuckles looks at him in despair.

"Sonic," Knuckles says, at the same time answering Sonic's question, "Did Robotnik do this to me?" When Sonic fails to speak, Knuckles takes his silence as an affirmative. "I tried Sonic...I really did..." Sonic embraces Knuckles and rubs his back, comforting him as best as he knew how.

"No...don't say it Knuckles. I know you did, I do...And I'm so sorry..." Sonic grits his teeth to prevent himself from crying again. Knuckles stood still in his arms, terrified at what Sonic knew, and saddened at what he himself had become.

"Sonic..." Knuckles asks cautiously. "What happened to the Floating Island?" Sonic freezes and Knuckles repeats his question.

"Sonic, what happened to the Floating Island?" Sonic shakes his head.

At this point, Sonic expects Knuckles to completely snap. His world turned upside down, his home destroyed, and his own body mutilated. He can only shut his eyes and wait. But what happens comes as a shock.

"Well," Knuckles began, breaking the unsettling silence, "I think you might have thrown a _real_ monkey wrench into Robotnik's plans when you got me huh?" Sonic looks up at him, listening to what else he has to say. "And I know you guys didn't get me for nothing, so tell me what you need me for, because I promise you, I'll do whatever it takes to bring that madman down." Sonic wraps his arm around Knuckles's shoulders. He pats him on the chest and puts his hand into a thumbs-up, smiling kindly.

"You're a good man Knuckles. And trust me, if our plan works, you'll be the one responsible for saving these people. Count on it." Knuckles stands up and closes his eyes. He is not tense, he is not slumping, he is not even sad. He leers at the ceiling, standing tall, like a true warrior. Sonic is stunned, there is no doubt that Knuckles is scarred because of this, probably for life, but he refuses to admit it. He will defend this world, even before he defends himself.

He is Knuckles the Echidna. Guardian of the Floating Island.


	13. Chapter 13: Controlled Chaos

**Sorry for taking so long to upload this next chapter, but you know life. I would like to thank the user TheControlled****Chaos****Alchemist for inspiring the name for this chapter. Alright, now on with the next chapter of...**

**The Sonic Underground Finale! **

From the room, Knuckles and Sonic emerge; everyone approaches the duo, wondering how the conversation went, but wondering even more if Knuckles is OK enough to do the task.

Before entering the room, he told Knuckles about what they needed to do, and Knuckles listened closely, making affirmation noises as Sonic explained. In addition, Sonic asked him to not mention what Robotnik did; emphasizing that Sonia would not take it well at all. Knuckles understands, and plays along accordingly.

When he walks out into the room with Sonic by his side, he acts so excited to see everyone, but he doesn't have to act too much, because he actually is excited to see everyone. Knuckles waves and smiles to the room, but he is somewhat stunned when he sees that Aleena is also there.

"Q-Queen Aleena! I-I- uh..." Knuckles bows and starts to apologize, "I'm sorry we have to meet for the second time like this..." Queen Aleena just smiles and rubs his head, the part not covered with metallic spines.

"Oh come now, I know I don't look that bad..." Aleena quips. Knuckles does not get the joke, which causes the siblings to laugh.

"Great to have you back man! You gave us a real scare back there you know?" Manic says while giving Knuckles a gleeful grin. Knuckles is also glad to see Manic, missing his quirky yet placid personality.

"Manic, aw man dude, I missed you too." Knuckles says, reaching forward to give Manic a hug. Manic hugs him back tightly, then they release and high five each other in a gesture of companionship. But the fun can only last for so long, they do have a mission to complete, and they must be hasty about it. But as we all know, hastiness runs in the Hedgehog family's bloodline.

"Alright," Aleena says, "Knuckles, am I to assume that Sonic had told you about what we need to do?" Knuckles nods his head and Aleena continues. "Then we must hurry to the island." Manic runs over to the command room, and he prepares the computer to boot up a current map of the island. As this is happening, Sonia moves to confront Knuckles for their first real exchange of words. As Knuckles sees Sonia approaching, he is nearly overwhelmed by the many emotions that rush over him, but he manages to keep his cool, from the outside at least.

"Hey Knuckles." Sonia says sweetly.

"...H-hi Sonia." Knuckles rubs the back of his head with his hands, making an audible clanking sound as he did so. Sonia comes closer to Knuckles and he steps back, leaving Sonia slightly confused. She is going to ask what is wrong, but she pretty much knows the answer to that question. Instead, she says what's on her mind.

"I missed you." Sonia says, breaking the silence between the two. Knuckles looks up at her and lowers his hand from his head. He is unsmiling, yet holds his steady gaze for a few intense moments. Sonia, unnerved by Knuckles's lack of emotion, turns her head away from him and stares at the floor; she cannot help but feel guilty for him being the way he is, and as much as she tries to shake it, she is unable. Unexpectedly, Knuckles speaks to her kindly.

"I missed you too." His voice is a little shaky, but other than that, he looks sound. Suddenly, Manic walks into the room, with a very concerned expression on his face, and a high tech holographic map rolled up in is fist.

"Guys, we got a serious problem." Manic opens up the map and a holographic image of the island appears in front of our heroes, with so many red marks that it would have taken an hour just to count.

"Robotnik's wired his island with all the goodies this time; Swatbots, Swat vehicles, scouter droids, camera-bots, those weird animal robots, audio-detecting equipment, and even speed detectors are all covering the island like wrapping paper. Getting on this island will not be a walk in the park; it might actually be easier to walk through a volcano. This place is sealed tighter than a drum; I don't think that a stealthy approach is still part of the possibility. Let alone being able to get to where we need to be." Manic says, shortly after, he is responded to by Aleena.

"But son," she starts, "we don't have time to go on the offensive, and we cannot let him know our reason for invading."

"I think that ship has passed mom. "Sonic says, "If Robotnik spent so many resources protecting his super base, he must have known we were going to be coming back." Knuckles cuts in.

"So does that mean that he knows about the plan?" He says concerned.

"Not necessarily, "Sonic continues, "Robotnik may know that we got a Chaos Emerald, but I betcha a dozen chili dogs he doesn't know what we're planning' to do with em'. I'll throw in some mustard waging that he doesn't know that we have seven of em' either." He says with a smirk.

"Maybe so." Sonia cuts in, "but that doesn't change the fact that the island is completely sealed off because he knows about us. If we can't break in, and we can't sneak in, what are we gonna do?"

"Your right Sonia," Manic interrupts, "The only way we could get in is if we were completely undetectable; that, or if we could somehow teleport, which is not possible!"

Knuckles jumps backward from the hologram and everyone is startled from their previously pensive mindsets. Suddenly, Knuckles starts laughing uncontrollably and starts pacing around the room. He gets far from the hologram then runs up to Manic, hoisting him up by his shoulders. Everyone gets prepared to defend him, but they are left frazzled when Knuckles starts to talk as if he's had some sort of revelation.

"Manic you little bugger! You're a genius!" Knuckles sets Manic down and puts one of his oversized hands on his head, still laughing with animated glee. Of course, Sonic gets curious as to Knuckles's ecstasy and starts to question him cautiously; he looks like he's lost his mind.

"Knuckles what are you doing? Have you lost your mind man?" Sonic asks, decreasing Knuckles whole hearted laugh into an excited giggle. He then turns to the whole of the group and points to the hologram, near the center.

"That's how we're going to do it! We're going to teleport!" He notices that they are all staring at him quizzically, and then he gains his composure just enough to explain himself, using his hands to emphasize expression. "My grandfather Athair taught me all kinds of techniques that Chaos energy could be manipulated to use; most of the techniques were simple and easy, but a few more of the powerful ones required multiple chaos emeralds to implement. One of those techniques is called CHAOS CONTROL!" Knuckles says this excitedly, but the others are still confused.

"Wait," Aleena starts, "I don't get it young man, what is Chaos Control?" Knuckles happily answers.

"Chaos Control can only be done with seven of the Chaos emeralds, but it's completely worth it. The effects vary, but its uses include stopping time and teleporting! It's not going to be easy, but if I do it... do you know what that means?" Knuckles proclaims.

"Wait!" Sonia exclaimed, "Does that mean that...?" Sonic breaks in with a bold and expressive smile on his face.

"We can literally whiz our way right past Buttnik's defenses! Knuckles, that's amazing!" Sonic is about to give him a high five, but clenches his fist when he remembers Knuckles's current state. Instead, he just lets out an enthusiastic snicker. But even though the plan is thought, Knuckles still has more to say.

"Alright guys, I know it sounds flawless, but there's a few holes you guys need to know about." Everyone leans into the circle and listens. "Number One, "Knuckles starts, "This is the first time I'm going to be doing this, and I don't know if I even..." Sonia places her hand into Knuckles's and speaks.

"I know you can Knuckles, we all believe in you." She says with a kind seriousness. He nods and continues explaining, Sonia's hand still in his own.

"Number Two, and it's a Biggy, but I can't teleport us directly into the main chamber with the eighth emerald; the reaction of all the emeralds instantly reacting with one another could...let's just say that it's not good." Everyone understands, but don't speak up because Knuckles is not finished explaining. "In other words, I have to teleport us to the mouth of the cave in order for the emeralds to gradually become accustomed to the appearance of the eighth. There could be robots in the cave, but I'm confident that I can lead us all to the emerald's location before I... you know." Everyone indeed knows, and nobody bothers to trudge it up; Sonia squeezes his hand harder.

"Number Three is that Robotnik might have sensors that can pick up on the emerald's energy signature when we teleport there, if that's the case, then we have to reach the chamber quickly before Robotnik has time to react." Sonic chuckles and Aleena speaks up.

"Oh trust us Knuckles, getting there quickly will not be an issue. Not with my little darlings." The children blush and giggle, making everyone smile except for Knuckles, who still as a serious expression on his face. The next number troubles him, and Manic can tell.

"And the last one?" Manic probes, to which Knuckles responds reluctantly. "And Number Four might be the one that throws this plan into disarray completely; I assume that Athair had warned you about the power of the emeralds?" The royal family nods and Knuckles continues. "He told me that one person could not contain the raw energy of all of them, and it may just be paranoia, but if he's right...then..." Knuckles breathes deeply and Sonia looks at him concerned. "If I tried Chaos control, I could be **destroyed**."

This causes the room to go deathly silent. It's not just that they can't lose Knuckles because of the mission, it's because they're asking him to risk his life for a plan that already has a very slim chance of being accomplished; they're asking him to sacrifice even more of himself for the world, and that they have to. There is no other choice.

But Knuckles wants to risk it, he feels as if his life has already gone downhill from the moment he was roboticized to the time he found out his island was destroyed. He's alone, and is always going to be, and there's nothing that can change that. This is what goes through his mind... but then Sonia speaks up.

"Knuckles. Listen to me." Sonia turns him around and stares into his eyes. "You are not going to go in alone, do you hear me? There's no way we're going to let you risk your life alone, we care about you Knuckles...**I** care about you." Sonia lifts up his heavy metal hand and puts hers into his, her gaze not once faltering. "I'm not letting go Knuckles, if you do this, I'm going to be doing it with you."

Sonic walks up and grabs Knuckles's other hand. "Me too man," he says, "We're in this together."

"Us too." Manic and Aleena say simultaneously while approaching the trio of friends. "As a family." Knuckles holds back the urge to cry; he is frustrated because of their insistence to put their lives on the line, but it is also something else. Now he wants to live, which might not even happen. It's all so confusing, but still, he knows that it's his duty to go through with the mission; only this time, with his newfound family.

...

Manic opens the last lead box and places it down on the floor, completing the circle of all seven. He runs back into the middle of the circle where Aleena is attaching something to Knuckles's wrist. She just finishes snapping it in and sets the timer to fifty minutes.

"What is it Queen Aleena?" Knuckles asks.

"It's a timer Knuckles, it will start to go off when the time is half done, when there's five minutes left, and then when the time is up. As soon as the time is up, we will need to zap you with the energy of the medallions so you can retain control of your mind. "

"Can't you play it safe and zap again me before the time is up?" Knuckles asks.

"Sorry, but if we tried that, then they would work just like their regular weapons. Heh, and that wouldn't be very good; now would it young man?" Aleena explains. Knuckles chuckles nervously and looks at the timer ticking down the minutes before he goes insane.

With the emeralds in place and everyone gathered around, Knuckles takes a deep breath and looks around at his companions, knowing very well that it might be the last time he sees them. He extends his hands, Sonia takes his right and Manic takes his left. Sonic takes Manic's hand and Aleena takes Sonia's. Then they all brace for what might come next. Afraid, but confident.

"You guys ready?" Knuckles asks with a bold smile on his face.

"Aren't we always?" Sonic responds with bravery. Knuckles begins the chant.

"Chaos..." Everyone's grips tighten they view the radiant emeralds with resolute gazes.

"CONTROL!" His voice explodes through the room, and a bright green flash overtakes it instantaneously. When it cleared, everyone had disappeared.


	14. Chapter 14: From Within

**Alright... Sorry about the long wait! But at least I got some progress done on the next chapter before releasing this one. I would like to thank everyone who is so patient with this project and I hope you enjoy. Anyway, without further ado, ****here is Chapter 14 of...**

**The Sonic Underground Finale!**

**Meanwhile, from the inside of Robotnik's base...**

Cyrus is walking by in a row of other roboticized citizens who are about to be fitted for their armor. However, with his fully aware mind, he does not intend to become a soldier of Robotnik, nor does he ever. He steps out of line and is offered no resistance by the mindless robots working on their machines. He walks through the halls and glances at the big machines dispensing the rings, and the sheets of metal to be made into the armor. He has to think about it when he walks, otherwise he feels drawn back into line. Being a robot stinks. He walks for about ten minutes before eventually coming to a large door.

The door scans him and when it's satisfied with whatever it sees, it opens the doors leading into the main chamber. Cyrus knows full well that he is not supposed to be in there, and if he gets caught he would get in serious trouble. But even when he knows this, he's not worried. Everyone is gone, and there's nobody guarding the computer. He goes to the keys and starts typing, after scrolling through many files he realizes that many of them are password protected. Not wanting to take a chance, he doesn't attempt to hack the system as he normally would. So instead he goes to the desktop to find many files opened and spread out on it.

"Whooo..." Cyrus whistles. "Buttnik's been busy hasn't he?"

He opens up the map of Robotropolis; Robotnik's cameras are hovering above the city, and luckily for Cyrus, have not picked up any suspicious activity. Cyrus knows he has to keep it that way. He sends the camera-bots back to the direction of the island, and replays footage previously taken, so when Robotnik goes to check, all he's going to see is a "clean" Robotropolis. After that, he scans the control room once again to ensure that nobody is around. But wait, he's detecting two signatures coming his way.

Cyrus hides behind the computer and peers at his two visitors anxiously.

"Oy Sleet, things are not going well for us..."

Cyrus does not take the risk of peering out, but if he didn't know any better, the voice would have sounded like Dingo's. An intrigued Cyrus turns up his audio receptors and listens to their conversation.

"Shut up! If I knew he was going to start losing it, I wouldn't have gotten us into this. If he loses his marbles, we're going to be roboticized, no doubt about it."

"Well then what do we do?"

"We have to get out of here Dingo; as much as I hate to admit it, I...care about you. And if you get robotized again, you'll explode"

"I don't wanna explode!"

"And that's why we got to leave! Keep watch and tell me if anything is going on outside, and I'll delete our files so Robotnik can't find us!"

"Alright!"

Cyrus can hear Dingo running to the door and Sleet aggravatingly typing away at the keyboard. Sleet grunts and groans, but Cyrus can at least make out that he does not understand the way the computer works. In some crazy back-of-head thought, Cyrus has a crazy idea...yet it just might work. Sleet pounds his fist on the computer and yells out to Dingo.

"This stupid computer isn't working! We're just gonna have to take our chances!"

"Not necessarily."

Cyrus walks out from behind the computer with a smug smile of his partially roboticized face. Sleet is shocked and growls at him, both angry and scared that he is going to be snitched on by Cyrus.

"You?! What are you doing here?" Sleet asks with his fists curled up dangerously tight. Instead of reacting with impatience, Cyrus calmly lifts up his hands as a sign of good faith.

"Relax Sleet. I have a proposition for you." Sleet scoffs indignantly and retorts quickly.

"Pfft, what can a shrimp like you do for me? Besides, I know you; you're with that irritating Sonic underground. Why would I even trust you?" Cyrus lowered his hands and pointed a finger towards Sleet.

"Because I know out of the three of us in this room, I'm the only one that can even hope to be able to operate that computer. Secondly, I know that not one of us in this room even likes Robotnik to begin with." Sleet leered at Cyrus yet unclenched his hands; Dingo stared at both of them captivated.

"Alright, you have my attention. What's the catch?" Cyrus narrows his eyes and gets a big smug grin on his face. Sleet looks to Dingo and shrugs, and they both listen to Cyrus's request.

"Ok...here's what I need you to do..."

...

Sleet is entering a hovercraft with Dingo, and they start up the engine. Cyrus had just deleted their files, and had erased them from Robotnik's database permanently. But even though Sleet is a sleaze, he does not want to back out on their deal. Not when the deal involves putting Robotnik in his place.

"Oy, are we really going to do this Sleet?" Asked Dingo dubiously. Sleet continues putting the aircraft into the optimal mode for takeoff while giving Dingo his answer.

"Yes we are; after listening to _his_ orders for so long; it's nice to know that he's going to be denied something for once." Sleet grabs hold of the wheel and flutters his fingers about the top, grinning deviously and getting comfortable with the feel.

"Do you think it'll work?" Dingo questions. Sleet adjusts the rear view mirror and looks at his fellow partner in crime with his eyebrow raised. He knows that they've dug themselves in a deep hole, if Robotnik wins, they'll be roboticized and turned into mindless zombies, but if Aleena wins, they'll probably be arrested for crimes against Mobiankind. But even so, he at least want to get one last good run with his partner, for old times' sake, just to see what it looks like on the other side.

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see," Sleet says.

"You know, I've always wondered what it would be like to be a Freedom Fighter."


	15. Chapter 15: Legend Awoken

Traveling through a plane of nonexistence, their atoms began traveling light speed to the intended destination. Robotropolis, the ocean, and the island all flashed by in the time of nothing, and they found themselves crashing to the floor, metallic and grassy at the same time. The force of the crash knocks the wind out of them, and they groan with remnants of the dizzying travel.

Sonic lifts himself off the floor of the island first, his eyes resembling pinballs in terms of wobbliness. He takes two missteps, stumbles over and picks himself up again, balancing himself out by extending his arms. His voice is shaky and dazed.

"Did somebody get the number of that bus...?" Sonic shakes his head side to side repeatedly and takes a look at his family, who are all scattered among the trees and floor.

"Over here...?" Says Sonia uneasily, who is sprawled on the leaves of a bush.

"Present." Manic says, hanging by his backpack on the leaves of a metal tree.

"Yo." Knuckles says, sprawled out on the floor face down.

"Where's mom?" Sonic asks, getting an almost immediate answer when regular leaves flutter down from an unroboticized tree. Aleena struggles by kicking her legs, but then the branch breaks and she uses her robe to land gracefully down on the floor.

"Here. A little ruffled, but nonetheless, okay." Now that everyone is accounted for, they get a good look at their surroundings. Judging by the metallic plant life and distant sounds of machinery, they safely assume that they are indeed on the Floating Island. The emeralds are still in a ring, only this time, they are dull and look powerless. Manic gathers up a few of the emeralds and brings them to Knuckles, looking visibly concerned.

"Knuckles! What happened to the emeralds bro? Did we break em'?" Knuckles lifts his head off the floor tiredly and puts it back down, his talking is a little glitchy and he is sparking, but otherwise he seems alright.

"The e-emeralds are drained r-right now. That happens after using C-chaos Control the w-ay we did. Don't worry; they'll be restored after a little while." Knuckles gets up and scans the surrounding area for robots. He finds none. Then after another quick survey, he notices the cave standing behind two tall trees. He points to its direction and everyone hurriedly follows him to the mouth.

"This is the ca-cave I was talking about. Inside, the eighth emerald we need to perform the ceremony w-will be waiting. The inside of here is like a labyrinth, but I know how to get through. Stick close and make sure we have all of the emeralds." Sonic and Sonia grab the rest of the Emeralds that Manic didn't and they all set off inside the cave. After a couple seconds, the cave becomes too dark for seeing, and Sonia voices her concerns.

"It's too dark Knuckles, I can't see anything." Rather than give a vocal response, Knuckles taps the side of his head twice. His eyes flicker a couple times before a yellow glow washes over the walls from his eyes. He turns to Sonia, who has a shocked look on her face.

"Better?" Asks Knuckles with a half-grin. He turns back around and everyone following him is a little surprised. Not that his eyes glow, but the fact that he actually made a joke. Sonic snickers a little and Sonia shoots him a burning glance, and then she laughs too.

As they travel down the dark hallways of the caverns, small talk seems more and more inevitable, much to the grief of Knuckles and Sonic. Of course, they have a secret to hide, so small talk would not only be distracting, it would also be dangerous. But nevertheless, Manic sparks up a conversation, bringing up some unforgettable moments.

"Hey mom, d'you wanna know what we did while you weren't here?" Manic asks.

"Sweety," Aleena starts. "You know, I've watched you all more closely than you might have thought. I may have seemed far away, but in reality, I was always around the corner."

"Oh really?" Sonic says skeptically. "So I guess you know about all the times Oracle sent us to other dimensions?" Aleena's eyes widen slightly, Oracle had neglected to tell her much about this at all. But rather than needing to ask, the siblings start regaling her with their own tales without the need of provocation.

"Yeah Sonic," Sonia starts, "Remember how Oracle sent us to the Roman times and how we had to stop that emperor that looked like Sleet? We also had to help the real emperor and his daughter? And without any of our powers to boot!" Aleena chuckles a nervous laugh and secretly makes a mental note of reminding Oracle distastefully about his negation to tell her.

"Oh yeah...yeah, yeah!" Manic responded. "An' remember when we got sucked into the world where everything was backwards? Sonic shoulda really cut back on the chili dogs over there! HA ha!"

"OH good grief, I was SOOO fat!" Sonic says, bursting out in laughter afterward.

"That one I remember." Aleena reminds them. Pretty soon, everyone is laughing, even Knuckles, who is really enjoying himself despite the circumstances. His laughs have a slight robotic echo, but that does not serve to quell his cheerfulness. He is laughing so hard, he almost misses the next turn, but luckily, he catches himself and leads the team through the winding cavern. Knuckles checks his timer, thirty minutes remaining; not much, but it's still enough. Eventually, the laughter dies down, and the floor is once again open to discussion.

"Hey Mom," Manic inquires.

"Yes?" Aleena responds.

"So why did you leave us with who we were adopted by in the first place? I mean, I get Sonic and Sonia being with whom they were with, but why would...well..."

"Let me ask you something son, did you enjoy your childhood?"

"Yes."

"And would you have had it any other way? I mean, besides the robot takeover and all?"

"No."

"Well, I guess destiny just decided that you were going to be with whoever you were with. And it makes no difference, because I know that no matter whom they were, they loved you and cared for you and made sure that you stayed safe. And even though I wasn't there, I always watched you, and I know that you loved him too, just as much as he did to you."

"I miss Ferrell mom." Manic says. He begins to tear up and Aleena wipes his eyes clear.

"I know honey, I know." Aleena pulls him close to her and they continue walking through the caverns. After a little bit more walking, the emeralds start to glow once again, and are continuing to get brighter and brighter with each passing step. Knuckles takes this as a good sign.

"Almost there guys, the emeralds are starting to glow really bright, meaning that we're getting close!" Knuckles bonks on the side of his head twice more and turns off his night vision. "Just conserving my battery!" He says jokingly, seeming slightly more ironic when he repeats it in his head.

Pretty soon, they turn a final corner and reach the legendary gem; all of the emeralds begin reacting wildly. They flicker and shoot little sparks into the surrounding air, causing Knuckles to duck to avoid being hit.

"Watch it!" Knuckles yells. He stands up and quickly rushes the siblings into putting the emeralds in place. Knuckles points to the Floating Island Emerald and gives his orders; "Alright, get the emeralds positioned in a circle around that one!" Sonic snatches up the emeralds and quickly circles around the main one, setting down the emeralds evenly. "Hurry up guys! We got," Knuckles' glance quickly turns to his wrist, "Oh Geez! Five minutes! Please tell me the amulets are powered up!"

"Don't worry, we got you its fine," Sonia assures him hastily. "Let's just get this over with quick!"

"Ok!" Knuckles and the others all assemble around the shrine, and Knuckles faces the emerald, raising his arms in the air.

"Oh Great Chaos Emeralds, hear our plea!" The emeralds are shimmering, and their faint shining noises ping off of the walls of the cave. "A terrible tragedy has befallen the beautiful kingdom of Mobotropolis, and this same evil is threatening to destroy the entire world if we don't act! Please Chaos emeralds, hear us!" The emeralds begin shining even brighter and the center emerald rises into the space above the others, spinning slowly and iridescently. "The Echidna race wishes for harmony. It is only through the harmony of the Chaos that good can truly shine above evil. So now I speak! For Peace!"

The siblings all watch the room completely engaged by the amazing lights shining in all around them. In a spectrum of rainbow, faint yet still visible sparkles are drifting in the air, and bounce off of their ankles where they stand. When Sonia moves her arm to test the strange light, a trail of rainbow appears from where she moved, and twirls up high into the air, disappearing with the others. But despite the distractions, Knuckles is resolute in his mission.

"Controller of Chaos; a solid base of the spectrum! By the powers of this angelic Island! I command you to...!" Knuckles stops. His heart stops.

Distant and menacing, a loud THWACK is heard in the hallway around the corner near the shrine, and it repeats itself, each time more loud than the next. THWACK...THWACK...THWACK! Knuckles stares desperately at the emeralds, but his voice is shut tight with fear; he can't talk, and he can barely even breathe. Everyone is silent and they all turn terrified at the entrance to the shrine.

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

A hand grabs the edge of the entrance door, and the owner of it glances in at the Sonic Underground with deep hatred. Knuckles starts shaking and slowly lowers his hands, turning around to see his worst fear, Dr. Robotnik standing in the corner of the shrine, and in his other hand, he follows with his eyes the length of a sharp black piece of leather. Knuckles's mind escapes him as his eyes remained glued to the object; the whip. That _horrible_ whip.

"Tsk tsk Knuckles," Robotnik says, approaching them with the equivalent of a small army tailing from behind, "And I had finally gotten you tamed... now you go ahead and betray me, even as a mindless robot minion." The robots all aim their firearms toward the group of Freedom Fighters, emotionless and steady. The family knows that they're trapped, but that is the farthest thing from Knuckles's mind right now. He grinds his teeth and his eyes remain wide open in terror, staring at Robotnik as he walks ever closer. Sonia looks at Knuckles's uncharacteristic fright and is taken by complete surprise; she has no idea why he's acting like that.

Sonic winds up for a run, but when Robotnik catches wind of his move, he extends is arm and spreads open his hand in a commanding stance.

"Hold it right there hedgehog." Sonic unwinds and stares at Robotnik menacingly. "Take one more step and you're all history." Sonic can only growl at Robotnik, but this makes him laugh with disgusting pride. Suddenly, Sonia starts yelling at Knuckles from behind Manic.

"Knuckles! Do something!" She yells. Robotnik shoots her a threatening glance but then turns his attention back to Knuckles, who is still staring at him, completely petrified. Knuckles tries to explain, but all that he can produce are a few barely audible stutters.

"I-I...C-c-cant...I...I...he has...I..I-I..." Knuckles continues to back up, and Robotnik starts to laugh whole-heartedly at his terrified demeanor. He flicks the whip at the floor, which makes Knuckles flinch and fall backwards.

"Well Knuckles," Robotnik says spitefully, "It looks like you didn't tell you little friends what happened, did you? Well that's a fine shame..." Sonic turns to his family and starts to shout his opposition to Robotnik's claims.

"Don't listen to him! He's lying!" He screams, but Robotnik has a counter.

"Afraid not Prince. In fact, you can see the proof for yourselves, cowering down right over there." Robotnik motions to Knuckles, who is shaking and slowly backing away, unable to hear anything being said through his extreme trepidation.

"And since _he's_ in no state to tell you, I suppose **_I _**will have to." Sonic wants to fight back and he wants to fight back hard, but there's nothing he can do. He can't say anything, he can't do anything, he can't even think of anything that could stop it. He just grits his teeth and waits.

"In all fairness, he was quite the stubborn one when he first came in" Robotnik starts, "After numerous attempts, his pigheadedness caused me to turn to drastic measures to get him into the roboticizer." Sonia is utterly shocked and turns to Knuckles, who is shutting his tearful eyes and turning away. It was all true. Robotnik continued speaking coldly; "After the first week, it was apparent that flagellation was the only way to deal with a stubborn islander... So that's exactly what I had happen!" Shock is not the only thing that fills the family; it's an intense and penetrating anger. The Royal family is trapped, but that does not mean they're out. They all stare at Robotnik with unbridled fury, and prepare to fight. They have always had to fight to get out of their toughest spots, and not even this was going to stop them. Robotnik dares them with his eyes, getting ready to defend himself from the inevitable onslaught.

"SHUUUT UPPP!" Knuckles screams at the top of his lungs.

The sound echoes through the cave and sends waves down the halls. He gets up and tenses all of his muscles, shaking, but too absolutely furious for fright. Everyone turns to look at him, and he takes a deep breath and turns to the Chaos emeralds once again.

"Knuckles?! What are you doing?!" Robotnik yells in manic confusion. Knuckles's watch starts to go off. The family listens to its repeated beeping in terror; if they extract their weapons, Robotnik will shoot them, but if they don't... But to everyone's surprise, Knuckles is unaffected. He pushes that all away; he calms down and raises his hands up into the air, chanting the spell with complete unwavering concentration.

"Controller of Chaos; a solid base of the spectrum! By the powers of this angelic Island! I command you to release your majestic powers!"

"What's he doing mom?" Manic asks Aleena under his breath.

"Knuckles is finishing the spell! But how is that possible?!" She exclaims in disbelief.

"Form the seven servers! The chaotic harmony that is the power of this world, purify and give forth light!" Knuckles yells loudly and the emeralds flash sharply, glowing brighter than ever. Sonic uses this sudden brightness to his advantage.

"SCATTER!" He yells. The family follows, and they all separate under the cover of the blinding light. Robotnik jumps back and is caught in complete surprise by their maneuver.

"SWATBOTS! FIRE!" Robotnik demands. The hulking robots aim for the individual members of the Royal family, but not one of their shots makes contact. Manic bounces onto the head of one Swatbot and pounds repeatedly on it with his drumsticks. The impacts disrupt its wiring and Manic jumps off as it starts sparking; its head explodes. Manic lands on the dirt floor and twirls his drumsticks in his hand satisfyingly.

"Our Hearts intensify their Power; the controller serves to unify the Chaos..." Knuckles presses on as Sonic dashes forward, staying low to the floor. With an extended arm, Sonic decimates the knees of the Swatbots, taking them down in a quickness rivaled by none. Sonia spirals up one of the Swatbots and leaps off of its head with her keyboard in tow. She aims for the weak spots of the robots, causing dozens to fall. During the pandemonium, Robotnik avoids the lines of fire and starts running for Knuckles.

"The legend comes forth once again! Emerald of the Floating Island! The 8th emerald...!"

Robotnik raises his whip, running straight for the distracted Knuckles, and swings down hard. **THWACK!** With her outstretched arm, Aleena stands tall and defensively over Knuckles, clenching her teeth on a piece of cloth to null the pain of the strike. The whip wraps around her firm and now bleeding arm, and Robotnik is left furious by the sudden turn of events. She yanks her arm away from Robotnik, taking the whip from his grasp and flinging it from the conflict with amazing rapidity. Even from four feet away, Knuckles is completely inattentive from the dilemma.

"Become the Master Emerald; and fulfill the wishes of our ancestors...!" Knuckles continues chanting. His forehead is sweating with strain and his eyes are clenched in solid determination. He feels himself slipping away, but he refuses to let go. _Not yet... _he thinks._ Not YET!_

As the siblings continue fighting with the robots, Dr. Robotnik grapples with Queen Aleena, trying to shove her away in order to interfere with Knuckles's ceremony; but however hard he tries, he finds himself evenly matched by the hardened queen. He punches at her and hits her face, and Aleena tries the same, clocking Robotnik in the cheek. Robotnik tries to push forward but is subsequently stopped by the queen at each turn. Their arms are interlocked; their feet are grinding into the floor, but neither one is giving an inch. Staring into each other's eyes, there is no measure of the amount of rage each feels toward the other. She is hindering his plans for world domination, and yet he took away her children from her. This anger has created a stalemate, yet stalemates must be broken.

Robotnik clasps onto Queen Aleena's hands and brings them to the side, knocking her off balance. He knees her in the stomach and she lurches forward in surprise, then he grabs her shoulders and shoves her onto the floor. Robotnik sprints forward at the young echidna, but Aleena swings out with her leg, crashing her foot into his shin with dizzying force. He loses balance and stumbles to the side, his towering mass becoming his literal downfall.

"MASTER EMERALD! UNLEASH YOUR **_POWER!" _**Knuckles stumbles to the floor as the entire island starts shaking. A huge wave of chaos energy resonates from the emeralds and causes all the robots in the room to malfunction and fall apart. The surprised siblings all turn their heads to the shrine, staring at the transforming emeralds in awe. The center emerald starts to grow as it gathers energy from each of the seven surrounding ones. The surrounding emeralds then start to transform in shape, and then arrange into many hues. Red... cyan... magenta... white... green... yellow... blue!

Knuckles smiles at their beauty, but the honorable moment was only able to last so long. His head begins throbbing in pain as mind-altering radio signals are trying to once again turn him to the side of Robotnik. As a last-ditch effort to oppose him, he raises his hand high up into the air; and with a mighty swing, he brings it down onto his very own head. The force of the strike causes Knuckles to see stars, but before he knows it, he closes his eyes and falls limp onto the floor.

Robotnik clenches his fist and pounds it into the floor, glaring at Queen Aleena with his evil red eyes. A small line of blood flows from the side of her mouth, but even so, she mutters something to Robotnik with a satisfied grin.

"You're too slow..." Her head slumps to the floor as she loses consciousness. Robotnik picks himself up and attempts to make a grab for her, but before he can, the entire room shifts to the left and so does he. A pedestal and seven pillars start to erupt from under them, and the siblings all grab onto something to prevent from falling. What they don't know is that from under the ground, the legendary monument meant to hold the Master Emerald, The Emerald Altar, is starting to come up as a result of the Master Emeralds' awakening.

"What's happening?!" Manic yells while holding onto one of the pillars for dear life.

"I don't know!" Sonia yells in response, mimicking her brothers. "But I think it's ok!"

The monument shifts to a 40 degree angle, and it's turning fast. Robotnik, Aleena, and Knuckles, who were either unable or incapable of tethering themselves to the platform, start sliding into the hole that is forming under the magical building. Robotnik scrambles for a tether, but when he is unable to find one, he accidentally lets go of the 70 degree slope and yells out as he plummets into the hole forming from under the shrine. Knuckles and Aleena are still sliding, heading closer and closer to the edge.

"MOM!" Sonic lets go of the pillar he is holding onto and runs to grab his mom before she falls into the abyss. The floor, now starting to straighten out, makes Aleena fall more slowly, in the small transition, Sonic swiftly grasps her hand and runs back to the top with her in his arms. In one arm, Sonic grabs the pillar with all his might and in the other he is holding his mom, trying desperately to keep the both of them from falling into the abyss.

"Wait!" Sonia exclaims, "What about Knuckles?!" Knuckles is still sliding down the platform, but all of a sudden, the room dips, causing his unconscious form to thump up into the air, and he falls into the hole after Robotnik. Sonia extends her arm and calls after him.

"Knuckl-" The ceiling above them crumbles and shatters, raining down dirt and twisted metal from above. Sonic, Sonia, and Manic all shield themselves from the shrapnel rain, and whatever was above is quickly being destroyed. Metal trees and dirt from the mountain start to displace along with two of Robotnik's towers; the shrine is coming up quickly and the siblings are once again able to see blue sky. The whole island is shaking from the phenomenon, and from the inside of the main base, Cyrus trying to balance himself, wondering what the heck is going on.

Slowly, the monument stops shaking, and the siblings all release their holds on the pillars to catch their breaths. The battle with the robots has left them exhausted, breathless, and covered in dust. The air settles, and it's as if nothing had just happened.

The sky is bright and sunny, and the air is sweet. The middle of the altar has the huge and powerful Master Emerald, and on the tops of each of the pillars, the seven NEW chaos emeralds shine brightly in the gleaming sun, purified and ready to save the world. The sound of their mystical gleams calms the nerves of the siblings with a supernatural healing property to it. The faint sounds of birds begin to fill the slight breeze, and the siblings relax themselves finally. Sonic stares into the sky and Sonia and Manic turn their heads when they hear their mother stirring. She rubs her eyes and sneezes, but when she looks up at her son, she asks a simple question.

"Did we win?" She says, squinting in the sunlight. Sonic looks at her confused for a second, but then he grins; his grin turns into a wide goofy smile, and then he bursts into giddy laughter. Sonia and Manic realize the situation as what it is, and they too start chuckling, and then they laugh as well. Aleena peacefully watches the clouds and smiles at the laughter of her children. They have indeed won.

xxx

After the laughs are all well and done though, Sonia wraps her arms around her knees and gazes at the ground. Sonic, Manic and Aleena collect the emeralds; but Sonia can't help feeling distraught. Knuckles is back with Robotnik again.


	16. Chapter 16: Do or Die

**Hello again Fanfiction readers. Thank you for being so patient, and I'm not about to make you wait much longer. So without further ado, I give you Chapter 16 of...**

**Sonic Underground Finale!**

Back at Robotropolis, Sonic is bursting down streets and boulevards at phenomenal speeds, being monitored by his family at the main resistance laboratory, radioed by Manic when he is approaching the next location for placing a Chaos emerald. Sonic's backpack is five gems light with one emerald to go. They had already positioned the green emerald near the satellite on The Floating Island, so the Royal family had then turned their attention to Robotropolis, with the largest surface area and multitude of roboticized citizens to revert back to normal.

Manic, Sonia, and Aleena are situated around a small computer screen glowing sky blue, with a speedy little red dot indicating Sonic's location. At another computer screen being watched by Trevor, The Floating Island is being monitored for any change in activity. Trevor feels lackluster while leaning back in his seat, for he's been watching the same anticlimactic screen for hours.

However, Manic hunches attentively at the computer screen, holding his headphones against his head with one hand and clutching the microphone with the other. His grip on the devices is strong and nervous, and he is shaking from the intensity. The prominent motherly side of Aleena senses that her young son is distressed, and she gently squeezes his tense fist with her soft hand. Her bandaged arm shows slightly from under the sleeves of her tattered teal coat. Her muddled hair is arranged in a single ponytail, and she is wearing a loose white dress that goes to her knees. She looks far from Royalty at the moment, her clothes ordinary at best, and herself completely exhausted from the stress and troubles of combatting Robotnik. But even so, she softly grips Manic's hand with loving tenderness, soothing the emerald hedgehog enough so he relaxes his muscles and straightens out in his seat. He smiles and watches the little red dot turn the desired direction on the screen.

"Ok bro, "Manic says through the mic, "Go three hundred yards then make a sharp left turn through the alleyway." His supersonic sibling follows his directions perfectly, and Manic continues. "Now run til' ya reach the end of Bolt Boulevard, then scale the brown building to the 17th floor; they'll be ichin' to get the last emerald up there." Sonic runs up to the doors of the building, he throws them open and runs the steps up to the 17th floor. The walls shoot past him like bullets, and his speed is truly unrivaled. In his hand he has the yellow emerald, and Sonic can feel its pure energy coursing through him; unlike the old emeralds, this energy is clean and totally controllable. He smiles as the energy tickles his fur, and before he knows it, he approaches the 17th floor and skids to a grinding halt.

"Alright," Manic continues as Sonic's footsteps reverberate from the walls, "Do you see any graffiti?" Sonic examines the room attentively and soon enough sees faded graffiti on the wall. It looks like a palm tree with the word LYF spelled out in unruly letters.

"I see it." Sonic says.

"Good," Manic continues, "Now look closely at the coconuts on the palm tree, do you see it?" Sonic winces a little and shuts one of his eyes while trying to see what his brother meant. And sure enough, when he gets close enough, he sees the numbers 3, 6, and 4 arranged in each of the three painted fruits.

"Yeah. It's numbers."

"Knock on the wall the number of times it says on the coconuts, going from left to right." Sonic knocks on the wall three times, pauses, six times, pauses once again, and finishes with four times. Not a millisecond after he does so, the wall on his left opens to reveal another laboratory, with a freedom fighter waiting patiently with a lead case. He approaches Sonic, and Sonic swiftly tucks the emerald behind his back and extends his arm.

"That'll be Four-fifty for shipping and handling!" Sonic says mockingly. The Freedom fighter looks to his side confusedly and Sonia snatches the mic from Manic's hand.

"Sonic! Stop messing with him! Just give him the emerald already?!" With a smug grin, Sonic straightens out and hands the emerald to the tall freedom fighter.

"I'll let ya off easy this time, K?" Sonic rushes down the hallways and the stairs, through many shortcuts of the building and its nooks and crannies, and he finally screeches to a halt at the now broken doors. He walks slowly out of the building as if he had no worries in the world.

Unfortunately, that's not the case.

Trevor hears a nervous pinging going off in his headphones, a screeching Pew Pew Pew Pew... That just begs for his attention. He startles up at his seat and stares at his computer screen, taking seconds to register what was going on. Dozens, no HUNDREDS of ships are flying up out of the island, and Trevor knows exactly where their destination leads.

"Guys! Robotnik's ships are flying out of the Floating Island! And fast!"

Manic whirls around in his seat and speaks with a determined voice. "Estimated time of Arrival?"

"Fifteen minutes. They're moving fast and they're moving high."

Manic turns back to his screen and paws up the microphone, speaking into it with a direct tone. One that says: this is the moment of truth. "Sonic. Hurry up and come back to HQ. Robotnik's going to be in Robotropolis any second, and we don't want you to be outside when the de-roboticizer rays start firing."

It was a concern for everyone from the beginning. What were to happen if you were not roboticized, yet hit with the de-roboticizer rays? Unfortunately, diagnostics could not figure out the answer, so they were just going to have to take their chances. The Resistance had sent freedom fighters throughout the city to rally normal people inside, just in case the rays posed any danger. But still... even if they don't know for sure, they have no other choice. It is the only way to save the city, and save everyone from the reign of Robotnik. Because Robotnik had managed to take every single roboticized citizen from the city, they were all accounted for, and they all needed to be saved, all at once. It's do or die time.

"Gotcha Bro!' Sonic affirms. He picks up speed as he runs through the empty streets of Robotropolis. Sonic runs up a vertical wall with his hyper-friction sneakers, and soon after, he reaches the top of the skyscraper; he leaps off onto a slightly shorter building. After landing, he positions his feet on the floor and sharply turns them it as he dashes off 90 degrees to his left.

"We have five minutes guys! Robotnik can be seen off of the port of Mobius!" Trevor says nervously to his compatriots. Manic whispers sharply into the microphone.

"Hurry dude!" He says it only once, because he knows that he doesn't have to tell Sonic twice.

From rooftop to rooftop, Sonic continues to pick up velocity. Though he knows the ground would be faster, he wants to have a good view of the sky. He glances up at the blue, but doesn't see anything quite yet. He leaps onto a taller building and takes a millisecond to look behind him; faint black dots can be seen in the distance, steadily growing with increasing intimidation. He turns back around and runs down the building in a corkscrew motion, running his hand along the windows to get a feel for his rapidity. If his gloves don't smoke, then he's not going fast enough.

"One minute!" Trevor is looking at the timer, yet at the same time preparing the activation device for the de-roboticizer satellites. The mechanism is unbelievably simple, five feet wide with three buttons to be pressed simultaneously; one by Sonic, one by Sonia, and the one by Manic. Sonia and Manic have positioned themselves at the machine, and are clenching their fists while anticipating Sonic's arrival. Even after being started, it will take the machine about 90 seconds to activate the satellites, and in that time, everything has to go perfect.

He accelerates down the streets at truly incredible swiftness. Time slows to a near halt in his eyes, focusing only on his feet. Shadows are now coming over the city, but when you go the speed of sound, time is always on your side. Everything looks like a blur, but when the location of the main resistance laboratory comes into view, he wastes no time. He slows down slightly to enter the doors, to which he can hear his own sonic boom before entering the building. The door burst open from the pressure of the wind, and Sonic screeches to a halt at the entrance to the laboratory.

"They're in view now!" Trevor says while pulling up the invasion footage on the wall sized monitor. Sonic skids to the machine and hovers his hand over one of the buttons. He half-expects Sonia to nag him, but is surprised when she hugs him instead. Before he can hug back though, she pushes him to his button and goes over to hers. Manic is at his button already, giving Sonic a condescending smirk.

"Glad you could make it." He says, "Your just about to catch the fireworks." Aleena watches from the side, looking nervously at both the wall monitor and at her children. The pressure is apparent as they wait for Trevor to give the signal so they can press the buttons. They have to wait until all the ships touch down first, or the roboticized citizens could plummet to the ground. As they wait, their minds shift to who is undoubtedly going to be in the city limits, and who, if the plan goes right, they'll be able to meet again.

Sonia thinks of Lady Windermere. How even though she acted uptight, she was a pleasure to chat with and be around. She remembers that when she was little, Lady Windermere would tuck her in and sometimes read her a bedtime story. And no matter how many times she would gat curious and get into trouble, and how many times Lady would get mad at her, she always treated her like a princess; but more importantly, she treated her like a daughter. Sonia smiles to herself, but none of her siblings notice; they have their own families to wonder about.

Robotnik's airships descend on the city, landing one by one on the cracked asphalt of the city streets. It seems like such a slow process, yet not thirty seconds have passed since they arrived.

Manic remembers Ferrell. Neither a handsome nor a trustworthy man by society's standards, but to Manic, he was perfect. Ferrell was rough and aggressive on the outside, and to almost anyone who wasn't Manic, he was flat out rude. They never did have enough, but even still, Ferrell somehow managed to get Manic everything he needed. Manic never understood why Ferrell wanted to take care of him in the first place, but Manic never really cared. He just liked having someone there for him, to love him like a son. He smiles slightly as well.

People look anxiously from the windows of their houses, or of any indoor location they could have found at the time. They see the hovercrafts scattering on the streets, still coming, and bringing with them an unknown terror.

Sonic remembers his parents too. He was happy with his adoptive parents when he was little, but mostly he spent his time outside with nature, playing by himself and with the little woodland animals. After his parents were taken away and Uncle Chuck took him in, he was brought into the perilous world of the Resistance. He thrived on the danger and delighted in running around and smashing robots, but even still, he remembered to leave sometimes; maybe just once each week to play with the little animals, or at night to gaze at the stars miles away from the city, where the nights were clear. Every one of his guardians showed affection toward him, and Sonic appreciated it every step of the way. All the way to the bitter end, they didn't care about his powers, his attitude, or his origins; all they cared about was him, his kind heart. Sonic tears up a little.

All the siblings push their personal feelings aside and look at the screen. The moment of truth was here, and they each position their hands mere inches above the buttons, waiting for the signal that was to come in the form of Trevor's voice.

"NOW!" Trevor yells. The siblings hands press down on the buttons and they all release their held breaths. A timer on the monitor starts counting down from zero, and an artificial female voice resonates from the speakers in the room. All they can do is wait to see if the satellites have worked. They look at the monitor, but are startled to see something very peculiar, that there is one airship left, a small one granted, but still high in the sky, and showing no signs of descending.

"What's with that one Trev?" Says Sonic puzzled.

"It's called the 'flag' it's supposed to lead the others, and give off a signal to attack. It's too small to have people inside of it, so I omitted it." Trevor explains this, but Sonic has a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, one that makes his feet twitch.

"What's the signal?" questions Sonic. He finds out soon enough. A marker is dropped from the small ship, and sure enough, the hovercrafts start opening and the roboticized soldiers start walking out into the city. Trevor thinks that everything is going as planned, yet is soon found terribly wrong when Sonic starts screaming in his ear.

"ZOOM IN! ZOOM IN!" Trevor is confused, but fearing that Sonic saw something he missed, he zooms in on the projectile, fearing that it could be an explosive of some sort. He enhances the image by one hundred, then by one thousand. As soon as Sonic affirms his suspicions, he bolts out of the room before anyone can tell him otherwise. Sonia yells out and everyone gasps, even before Trevor knows what he's looking at. He gazes at the screen and looks closely, adjusting his glasses. He soon realizes that it's not a bomb he's looking at, or an explosive, but a person.

With the metal weighing down his spines, he couldn't fly even if he was able to. Unconscious and heavy, Knuckles is at the total mercy of gravity, the mercy of the cruel, hard ground of Robotropolis. He is spinning slowly, head over heels as he falls, unable to steer himself to safety. The wind whizzes by him, faster and faster each second, yet as far as Knuckles is concerned, he may as well already be dead.

The only person who can help him now is dashing toward him at supersonic speeds, miles away, faster than he's ever gone before. His shoes are burning, losing their shape and friction properties as wind and gravel bombard the soles. The heat of the wind's friction causes Sonic to sweat immensely, and his eyes are filled with fright as he looks up into the sky and sees Knuckles falling, and himself unable to stop it from happening. He picks up speed once again, and it's almost as if he is teleporting from one street to the next as he comes ever closer to the plummeting echidna. Roboticized citizens are in strong armor, toting powerful weapons as they march through the city streets menacingly, for the empire of Robotnik.

Inside of the laboratory, the family is left stunned and panicking from the newest turn of events, and the cold female voice is still counting down the timer to the activation of the satellites. As it does, Aleena is on her knees, staring at the monitor helplessly. Sonic is outside, Knuckles is falling, and the de-roboticization satellites are about to go off.

**10...9...8...**says the robotic voice.

Sonic is going into this absolutely blind, he has no idea what he's supposed to do when he gets to him, and even if it's safe to approach him as it stands. If Knuckles regains consciousness before the satellites go off, Sonic could be attacked, and they would both be in hot water. If Sonic does manage to catch Knuckles, would his body even be able take the force of him being hit from something that high? And if he doesn't reach him in time, will he have to witness his friend die before his very eyes?

Sonic's body is wearing out fast; he's overexerted himself already, and he can feel the muscles in his legs pleading for him to stop, but Sonic just gets faster. He pushes through the pain, knowing what's at stake, and he breaks boundaries. His legs are moving so fast, his arms can't keep up; he pounds them behind him and accelerates in a burst of will. With his arms straight, his body has become more streamlined, and he pierces the wind like an arrow.

**5...4...3...**

Sonic bounds up the skyscraper, going so fast that it doesn't even matter that his sneakers are no longer friction resistant. At the 40th floor of the building, he sees Knuckles falling towards him. Just a couple feet away...

**2...1...**

Sonic jumps upward off the side of the building, extending his arms to catch him. Knuckles's eyes start to twitch slightly, and he opens them to see Sonic a couple floors away. He sees Sonic reaching toward him, but doesn't know what to feel. He stares at him blankly, unconsciously mimicking Sonic and reaching for him.

**Activation.**

As Sonic and Knuckles reach out, the city is enveloped in a blinding light, and a soft twinkling sound can be heard echoing through the city.


End file.
